Want to Educate the Best Physicians?
Smart. Compassionate. Creative problem-solver. These are skills that matter when looking to the future in healthcare. That makes them highly desirable traits in a medical student. Take, for example, first-year UVA medical student Slater Jameson. Jameson earned his undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering at Case Western Reserve University. First and foremost, he wants to be an excellent clinician. He’s also interested in the intersection of medicine and technology and ways to make diagnosing and treating disease safer, more effective, and more comfortable for patients. When he applied to medical schools, Jameson had his pick. He chose UVA, in part, because of the scholarship support he receives.
Annual tuition and fees for an out-of-state student at UVA hover around $59,000; in-state costs fall about $10,000 lower. Eighty-four percent of the current class rely on loans and/or scholarships to complete their degrees. Even with this support, 73 percent will graduate with debt. While UVA’s debt is lower than the national average, University medical students still graduate with a median education debt of $140,000.
For Slater Jameson, the support that he receives from a scholarship established by the School of Medicine Class of 1974 helps to make his education possible. Now, an alum who started with the class of 1974, but finished a year earlier, Allen Hogge, MD, along with his wife, Joan, is stepping forward to create another scholarship. They are taking action now to multiply the impact of their gift through the Bicentennial Matching Program. Through this special program, the University provides matching support equal to one-half of the Hogges’ gift. A gift of $100,000 becomes a gift of $150,000 through the match.
“Joan and I are both from blue collar backgrounds,” says Hogge. “We both had scholarship support, so this is our way of giving back. I also know from experience that good medical schools use scholarships to recruit the best students.”
The Hogges are frequent visitors to Charlottesville, attending school-related functions and marveling at how much has changed since Joan used to catch a ride over the mountain from Madison College (now James Madison University) to attend UVA events with her husband-to-be. For Allen Hogge, UVA is in his blood: He earned his undergraduate degree and his medical degree at UVA, followed by a residency in obstetrics and gynecology. He also served on UVA’s medical faculty.
“My license plate reads UVA 4X,” Hogge confesses. Hogge’s career as an obstetrician/ gynecologist took the couple to many places, eventually landing them at the University of Pittsburgh, where he chaired the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences from 2004 until 2014.
Today, the Hogges have returned to Virginia, where he still practices several days a week in Richmond. This is the second scholarship that the couple has established in the UVA School of Medicine, aimed at attracting more students like Slater Jameson.
“Coming to UVA School of Medicine has been the greatest achievement of my life so far,” says Jameson. “I feel humbled to be surrounded by such intelligent and talented classmates who care just as much for helping each other as they do their future patients.”
