lune 9, 2010
'ri" Portiani» (Dhserurr
Page 7
Medical Student Earns Prestigious Award
Honored for excellence, minority outreach
O m ar W ashington o f northeast
Portland, a second-year student at
the UC Davis School o f M edicine,
has been honored w ith a prestigious
2010 M inority Scholars A w ard by the
American Medical Association Foun
dation.
W ashington is one o f only 13
students nationw ide to receive the
award, w hich is accom panied by a
$ 10,000 scholarship.
The annual aw ard recognizes aca
dem ic excellence, a strong com m it
m ent to im proving m inority health
and outstanding prom ise o f a future
career in medicine.
"O m ar W ashington is an excep
tional student w ho has fostered ef
forts to increase diversity in the phy
sician w orkforce at the local and na
tional levels and to deliver preven
tive health care to the m edically
underserved in our com m unity," said
Claire Pom eroy, vice chancellor for
hum an health sciences at UC Davis
and dean o f the School o f M edicine.
" He exem pl i fies our schoo l’s com m it
m ent to diversity and social justice,
and w e are proud to have him as a
m em ber o f our student body."
W ashington received his under
graduate degree in m icrobiology at
Portland State University in Portland,
O re., and entered the School ofM edi-
cine in 2008. H e is an active m em ber
o f the Student N ational M edical
A ssociation, the oldest and largest
student organization for m edical stu
dents o f color in the country. He also
serv es as the regional liaison to the
M inority A ssociation o f Pre-m edical
Students.
W ashington m entors several u n
derg rad u ates from d isadvantaged
backgrounds interested in p u rsu
ing careers in m edicine. H e also o r
ganizes sem inars and events for stu
dents from throughout the region to
help prepare them for m edical school.
R ecognizing the im portance o f early
"M y goal is to ex cite students to
the possib ilities in health care and
to support, en courage and assist
them in their individual jo u rn ey s,"
W ashington w rote in his applica
tion for the aw ard. "U pon co m p let
ing m y m edical degree, I hope to
w ork at an academ ic institution where
I can continue to help guide young,
s ta n d in g m e d ic a l s tu d e n t w ith
strong leadership and interpersonal
skills," said D arin Latim ore, director
o f M edical S tudent D iversity at UC
Davis School ofM edicine. "His calm,
m a tu re a p p ro a c h to a d d re ss in g
h ealth-care co n cern s helps build
consensus in the com m unity and
fosters o ur overall efforts to deliver
eag er m edical students and host
program s for d isadvantaged youth,
to en courage them to seek careers in
m edicine."
W ashington also serves as co
d irecto r o f the Im ani C linic, a free
Omar Washington
outreach, he w orks ex ten siv ely w ith
elem en tary and h ig h -sch o o l stu
d e n ts, p a rtn e rin g w ith A fric a n -
A m erican ch u rch es and sports o r
ganizations to co m b in e academ ic
inform ation w ith com m unity activi
ties.
com passionate, culturally sensitive
care that m eets the needs o f diverse
patient populations."
The UC Davis School ofM edicine
is am ong the nation's leading medical
schools, recognized for its specialty-
co m m u n ity clinic that offers p re and p rim ary-care program s. T he
ventive health services to a histo ri school offers fully accredited master's
cally A frican -A m erican n eig h b o r degree program s in public health and
hood, and partners w ith leaders in in informatics, and itscombined M.D.-
the c o m m u n ity to fo ster health. Ph.D. program is training the next
T hrough annual events like the Ulezi generation o f physician-scientists to
Fam ily H ealth Faire, clinic stafTofifer conduct high-im pact research and
b lo o d -p r e s s u re s c r e e n in g s a n d translate discoveries into better clini
health ed u catio n , and help build cal care. A long w ith being a recog
relationships w ith com m unity orga nized leader in m edical research, the
nizations d ed icated to ad vancing sch o o l is c o m m itte d to serv in g
ed u catio n and health.
underserved com m unities and ad
"O m ar W ash in g to n is an out- vancing rural health.
/
Special broadcast from Congressman DeFazio
Earl Blumenauer
Congressman
David Hinson
Office of Secretary of Commerce Director of MBDA
Special Project Announcement from the Smithsonian Institution
Ted Aadland
President AGC America
Anthony Robinson
MBELDEF, NAMC Hall of Fame
Harry Alford
President National Black Chambers of Commerce
and FHWA
” ■
•
..
■
J Isaac
Vice President Portland Trail Blazers -
Building new Jazz and Destination Row JumpTown
Fred Hansen -
special recognition
General Manager TriMet
Brian Terrett
Legacy Health System
une.
OREGON
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
MINORITY CONTRACTORS