Pritzker News
Pritzker Students Named 2011 AMA Physicians of Tomorrow
Laura Blinkhorn, MS4
August 8, 2011—Pritzker fourth-year students Laura Blinkhorn and Maggie Moore have been named recipients of the American Medical Association Foundation's 2011 Physicians of Tomorrow Scholarship. The scholarship, which was established in 2004 to help offset the cost of medical school debt, acknowledges a very select group of students who have displayed academic excellence. Maggie's scholarship also includes the support of the Johnson F. Hammond, MD fund, which recognizes students who have demonstrated a commitment to a career in medical journalism.
Laura Blinkhorn, MS4 graduated magna cum laude honors from Princeton with a degree in Comparative Literature in 2003, and went on to participate in a two-year position as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea, West Africa. Upon her return to the United States in 2005, Laura began work at the Congressional Quarterly in Washington, D.C. as a reporter. Since her matriculation at the Pritzker School of Medicine in 2008, Laura has been a remarkable contributor to service—both locally and, throughout the coming academic year, internationally. Laura was one of six students selected to participate in the inaugural Pritzker Summer Service Partnership in 2009, a program that provides rising second-year students with the opportunity to work with one particular South Side community and create a sustainable service project to make an impact in that neighborhood. In turn, Laura also helped shape the new service-learning curriculum. She has taken on leadership roles at the Washington Park Free Children’s Clinic and the Psychiatry Interest Group. Most recently, Laura received the distinct honor of being selected as an Albert Schweitzer Fellow. In the coming academic year, Laura will spend three months in Lambaréné, Gabon on clinical rotations.
Maggie Moore, MS4, MS
Maggie Moore, MS4 graduated from Princeton in 2005 with a degree in English Literature and went on to pursue a Master’s degree in Society, Human Development, and Health from the Harvard School of Public Health. Since matriculating to Pritzker in 2008, Maggie has participated in experiences that make her deeply invested in the lives of others. Throughout her first year, Maggie volunteered at the Maria Shelter Clinic for Women and Children, a clinic serving homeless women and their children living on the South Side of Chicago. From 2009 to 2011, Maggie led group runs for elementary school girls through the “Girls on the Run” program, an organization that strives to promote health body image and encourage physical activity amongst young girls. Along with these activities, Maggie has proven herself to be an exceptional medical student. She was recently selected to serve as a Teaching Assistant for the Clinical Pathophysiology and Therapeutics Course, an honor reserved for those who perform in the top 20% of the course.
Maggie's extraordinary writing talents became more widely known when she was recognized by the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. The AOA publication, The Pharos, chosen to publish Maggie's poem entitled “Cadaver Memorial.” In addition, Maggie participated in and received an overwhelming response to “A Third Year’s Life in Lyrics," a collection of poems she presented at the University of Iowa.
Congratulations to these extraordinary students! Please visit the AMA Foundation's website to read more about the Physicians of Tomorrow Scholarship.
