Richard Juarez, MD Memorial Award
Dr. Juarez was born on April 24, 1972, in the rural town of Brawley, California, and was a student at the UCLA-Drew School of Medicine. For all the years he was in medical school, he tirelessly dedicated himself to what was then CMSA (now known as LMSA). He acted not only as a Medical Student Representative (MSR) for his chapter but also became the principal medical student in charge of CMSA’s Supernetwork grant funding, ensuring that all chapters performed the necessary duties to maintain funding and community activism for the organization.
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Richard’s duty to underserved communities expanded beyond his involvement in CMSA. He was well known among peers and faculty alike to be a true leader and was consistently involved in community outreach and Latino health issues, both local and national.
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Richard passed away in a car accident at the start of Thanksgiving weekend, November 25, 1998. UCLA-Drew School of Medicine posthumously awarded Richard his MD degree. Classmates and fellow CMSA members decided to make permanent Richard’s memory in the creation of the Richard Juarez, MD Memorial Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Community.
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*Current academic year: 2023-2024
Questions? Email VP_Scholarship@lmsa.net
Deadline: February 16th, 2024 11:59 PM PST
Applications are currently open.
Eligibility
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To qualify for the Richard Juarez, MD Memorial Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Community to LMSA & the Latino Community, applicants must be graduating medical students who have been involved in LMSA during all of their years of medical school training and have a clear vision of how they will improve the health of Latinos and other underserved communities.
How to Apply:
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Please submit the application as one PDF to vp_Scholarship@lmsa.net before the deadline. The subject headline should be “Richard Juarez 2022 Scholarship – First Name, Last Name”.
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Any application material received after the deadline will not be reviewed. All submitted materials become the property of the Alliance in Mentorship and will not be returned. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. Winners will be announced in late April or early May of the application year.
As a first generation Hispanic, doctors visits were a luxury. There was no available insurance for my parents, which strayed them away from medical care. When they did have the opportunity to seek medical attention, no one was able to help them. My inspiration and dedication came from not only my parents but those who are unable to reach medical professionals. I will continue my education to eliminate such barriers and make it more accessible for the underserved communities."
Past Scholarship recipient.