November 11, 2009
Des Moines, Iowa: Four Farm Bureau Rural Family Medicine Scholarships were awarded during the Iowa Academy of Family Physicians’ (IAFP) Annual Meeting held November 5, 2009 at the Des Moines Marriott. Noreen O’Shea, D.O., President of the IAFP Foundation and Barb Lykins, Director, Community Resources of the Iowa Farm Bureau Foundation, made the four $2,500 award presentations.
Carol Gunnett, MD – completed her undergraduate education at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA; graduated from University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA; trained at the Northeast Iowa Family Medicine Residency Program, Waterloo, IA; and is now practicing in Clarksville, Iowa.
The purpose of the Farm Bureau Rural Family Medicine Scholarships is two-fold:
- To encourage residents, upon graduating from an Iowa family practice residency program, to pursue a medical career in Iowa communities with populations under 10,000.
- To encourage medical students to enter an Iowa family residency and to practice in a rural Iowa community.
Barb Lykins, Iowa Farm Bureau Director Community Resources says “The Iowa Farm Bureau is committed to Iowa’s rural character; after all it is the rural communities and citizens who created Iowa and continue to be the backbone of this great state. We’re proud to sponsor this scholarship as a means to not only ‘give back’ to our rural citizens, but to encourage our highly-valued graduates to stay in Iowa and serve the rural community.”
The IAFP Foundation is the philanthropic body of the Iowa Academy of Family Physicians. Each year the IAFP Foundation works with the Iowa Farm Bureau Foundation to make these scholarships possible. “Iowa’s strength and even its identity come from its rural roots.” States IAFP Foundation president, Dr. Noreen O’Shea. “The Iowa Academy of Family Physicians and its Foundation strive to enhance that strength by encouraging young physicians to serve in rural areas. By establishing their “medical homes” in the small towns of Iowa, they will continue the legacy of quality healthcare that for which Iowa is known. We also are honored to partner with the Iowa Farm Bureau Foundation in its wise investment in its own roots and in these young doctors.”
Since its inception in 1993 sixty-eight scholarships have been provided totaling $170,000.
