DAYTON, OHIO— Four Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine students — including Mark Crager who worked in Washington Court House for a time — were selected to receive a $30,000 Choose Ohio First Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) medical scholarship for the 2018-2019 academic year, bringing the total number of students from the Boonshoft School of Medicine receiving the scholarship to seven and the total amount of funding from the Ohio Department of Higher Education to $210,000.
The new recipients of the scholarship are Crager, a second-year medical student from West Jefferson; Daniel Keltner, a fourth-year medical student from Germantown; Maya Prabhu, a second-year medical student from Cincinnati; and Tricia Warnecke, a second-year medical student from Delphos. They join continuing scholars Yasamine Edwards, a third-year medical student from Dayton; Jarrod Wurm, a fourth-year medical student from Republic; and David Yoder, a fourth-year medical student from Bluffton.
“Working in family medicine is more than just a job. You are adopted into the families of the patients you serve,” said Crager, who practiced as a family medicine physician assistant for 15 years in Appalachian Ohio before enrolling in medical school. “You get to know everything about them and have the great pleasure and privilege to provide for their health care needs.”
While Crager is originally from West Jefferson, he worked in the Washington Court House area. He practiced as a family medicine physician assistant for 15 years before enrolling in medical school.
The Choose Ohio First Primary Care Scholarship Program was created in 2010 with the passage of Ohio HB 198, Ohio’s patient-centered medical home legislation. Fifty medical students throughout Ohio can receive up to $120,000 in scholarship funding throughout their four-year medical education. Recipients are selected from Case Western Reserve University, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Ohio University, Ohio State University, University of Toledo, University of Cincinnati and Wright State University.
Scholarship recipients must be Ohio residents and show a commitment to community service. They must commit to a residency in family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics or geriatrics. After completing residency, each recipient must agree to practice full time in Ohio for at least three years in primary care (family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics or geriatrics). As primary care physicians, they must serve Medicaid patients.
Two of the other recently announced recipients also spoke about being accepted and their career in medicine:
Prabhu wants to join her mother in family medicine. Her grandfather built a family medicine practice in Woodlawn, Ohio. “Over the past 44 years, my grandfather, and later my mom, built relationships, practiced healing and fostered compassion between and amongst their patients,” she said. “It would truly be a privilege to serve and learn alongside the community that they served for so many years.”
Warnecke plans to return to her hometown after residency. “My local area of Ohio will see a need for family physicians in the coming years as doctors who are currently practicing approach retirement,” she said. “I want to return to my hometown to serve as a family medicine physician to give back to my community by providing safe, efficient, patient-centered health care to all individuals.”
The Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine is a community-based medical school affiliated with eight major teaching hospitals. The medical school educates the next generation of physicians by providing medical education for more than 480 medical students and 465 residents and fellows in 13 specialty areas and 10 subspecialties. Its research enterprise encompasses centers in the basic sciences, epidemiology, public health and community outreach programs. More than 1,600 of the medical school’s 3,422 alumni remain in medical practice in Ohio.
The information in this article was provided by The Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine.
