CLEVELAND, May 15 OH-Cleveland-Clinic
CLEVELAND, May 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Cleveland Clinic announced today that
the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve
University is providing all its students with full tuition scholarships,
beginning with this July's incoming class.
Approaching its fifth year in existence, the Cleveland Clinic Lerner
College of Medicine is dedicated to the training of physician scientists who
are capable of furthering medical research and bringing the most advanced
medical treatment to the patient bedside.
"The average debt for students graduating from private U.S. medical
students, such as the Lerner College of Medicine, is more than $150,000,
making many graduates less likely to pursue careers in academic medicine,"
said Delos M. "Toby" Cosgrove, M.D., President and CEO of Cleveland Clinic.
"By providing full tuition support, we want to ensure that debt does not
hinder the ability of our graduates to pursue academic careers as physician
scientists."
Students currently enrolled in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of
Medicine will receive additional scholarship funding to offset 50% of the
difference between past tuition paid and the financial aid they've already
received. Cleveland Clinic will support the full tuition scholarships through
existing endowment income and clinical operations. The long-term goal is to
fund the scholarships entirely through endowment income.
"With rising debt levels a growing concern for medical education, we
applaud efforts that provide students with full financial support to help them
achieve their dreams of becoming physicians," said AAMC President and CEO,
Darrell G. Kirch, M.D.
The Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine enrolls 32 students
annually and drew 1,423 highly qualified applicants this past year. The
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine program is designed to train
graduates who will have a solid combination of clinical and research skills
and a passion for scientific inquiry. Graduates earn a medical degree (M.D.)
with Special Qualification in Biomedical Research.
"Our nation and the world of medicine suffer from a shortage of physician
scientists who are trained in the methods of science, and willing to devote
their careers to the pursuit of knowledge and the advancement of medicine,"
said Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., Director of the National Institutes of Health.
"Efforts such as the full tuition scholarship initiative announced by
Cleveland Clinic are vital and serve as a catalyst for attracting and
retaining some of medicine's brightest talent to the vast and growing field of
clinical research."
Training the newest generation of physician scientists is an important
aspect of the Clinic's mission and enhances the health system's long-term
ability to provide patients with state-of-the-art healthcare.
"Offering full tuition scholarships is an investment in our future and the
future of medicine," said Andrew Fishleder, M.D., Executive Dean of the Lerner
College of Medicine. "We have been fortunate to have been able to attract
outstanding students since the inception of our program."
This year, five Lerner College of Medicine students received the
prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute-National Institutes of Health
Research Scholars Program award, also known as the "Cloisters." The program is
intended to give outstanding students at U.S. medical schools the opportunity
to receive research training at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda,
Md.
A sixth student received an HHMI Medical Student Research Fellowship that
will support one year of research at Cleveland Clinic. In addition, three
students received Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship awards, which are
designed to support medical student research at selected academic medical
centers and one student received a National Institutes of Health Clinical
Research Training Program Award.
Cleveland Clinic, located in Cleveland, Ohio, is a not-for-profit
multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital
care with research and education. Cleveland Clinic was founded in 1921 by four
renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based
upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. U.S. News &
World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation's best
hospitals in its annual "America's Best Hospitals" survey. Approximately 1,800
full-time salaried physicians and researchers at Cleveland Clinic and
Cleveland Clinic Florida represent more than 100 medical specialties and
subspecialties. In 2007, there were 3.5 million outpatient visits to Cleveland
Clinic and 50,455 hospital admissions. Patients came for treatment from every
state and from more than 80 countries. Cleveland Clinic's Web site address is
http://www.clevelandclinic.org .
SOURCE Cleveland Clinic
