Published: March 15, 2008 10:50 pm            

SMC Summer Scholars sought

The Stillwater Medical Center Foundation wants to provide a unique answer to “How I spent my summer vacation” for three area high school students this summer.

Since 1984, when Dr. Orville Rippy established the Rippy Fellowship, a special experience has been provided to selected young adults who have a sincere interest in a health care career.

In 1996, the Rippy Fellow was joined by two additional awards. Dr. Glen Henry, the 1987 Rippy Fellow, and his mother, Glenna Cramer, established the Franklin Fellowship, honoring Dr. Henry’s late stepfather. Dr. Robert Breedlove also stepped forward to establish an endowment for the Breedlove Externship.

Each of the three students awarded an internship will share similar experiences as they journey through the six-week program. They shadow nurses, physicians and a variety of therapists and allied health care professionals, tour the OSU and OU Colleges of Medicine and visit specialized care centers in both Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

“I went into the program thinking I wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon. By the second day, I had changed my mind and decided I wanted to be a dermatologist. On the third day I thought I wanted to be a radiologist, so I gave up on deciding on one field and looked at everything-taking every field into consideration,” said Ella Walker, the 2007 Breedlove Extern.

Students from high schools in Stillwater, Perry, Mulhall-Orlando, Perkins-Tryon, Morrison, Carney, Glencoe, Ripley and Yale are eligible to apply for the Rippy and Breedlove awards. The Franklin Fellowship is dedicated to a student from Stillwater High School.

Interested students may obtain an application through their school’s guidance office or at SMC Foundation at 742-5728. Applications are due April 7. Finalists will be contacted by April 15, and recipients will be named following an interview with the selection committee.

        

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