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.
/
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Harry Alford
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and FHWA
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