News

May 8, 2017

Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital Awards Scholarships to 10 Students Pursuing a Career in the Field of Medicine

 
 

Ten students pursuing a degree in medicine each received a $1,000 scholarship from Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital for the 2017-18 school year.

The students were recently honored at a scholarship luncheon at the hospital.   

 The one-year scholarships, which are funded by the monies generated from the hospital’s gift shop, will help the students to fund school expenses, including tuition, books, lab fees and educational items purchased at school facilities.

 The 10 students who received an Aurelia Miller Scholarship from the hospital include:

  • Momen Abdelkarim, an 18-year-old student graduating from Chandler’s Hamilton High School, who will attend Arizona State University’s Barrett Honor College to study computer science with a pre-med emphasis;
  • Nabil Attlassy, a 20-year-old student attending Arizona State University to study biochemistry, with the goal of becoming a physician;
  • Glenn Ivan Bascon, a 21-year-old student attending Arizona State University for pre-med (STEM);
  • Olivia Noelle Besthoff, a 20-year-old student attending Arizona State University’s College of Nursing;
  • Bernardo Chavira, a 35-year-old student attending Midwestern University to study osteopathic medicine;
  • Kayla Kelsen, an 18-year-old student graduating from Ahwatukee’s Mountain Pointe High School, who will attend Gilbert-Chandler Community College to study nursing/health sciences;
  • Darlena Le, a 20-year-old student attending Arizona State University to study applied biological sciences/pharmaceutical;
  • Alisabeth Perez-Hill, a 21-year-old student attending University of Arizona to study nursing/health sciences;
  • Trinny Tat, a 20-year-old student attending the University of Arizona to study biological engineering and mathematics; and
  • Andrea Walsh, an 18-year-old student attending the University of Arizona studying nursing.

 Alisabeth Perez-Hill also received a special award from the hospital in honor of Marvella Rodriguez, who worked in a variety of positions at Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital from 1978 to 2006. Rodriguez began her career at the hospital, working the night shift as a nursing assistant until she was promoted to a unit secretary/nurses’ assistant, where she could work the day shift. She served as a staffing coordinator for a majority of her career at the hospital, where she scheduled clinical personnel within the facility. “Marvella exemplified teamwork, and personified the spirit of Tempe’s only hospital,” said Sheila Bryant, an Emergency Department R.N. who worked with Rodriguez. “She had such a gift for helping others, whether it be jumping in to help answer patient call lights on the nursing units, or helping her fellow coworkers.”

Trinny Tat also received a special award from the hospital in honor of Dr. Ernest von Pohle, who is the reason why Tempe has a community hospital. Dr. von Pohle wanted to care for the sick and provide healthcare and wellness to the community, which included a rapidly-growing number of military personnel who were stationed at Williams Air Force Base in East Mesa. At its beginning, his 10-bed Tempe hospital only had basic, necessary equipment and medical staff.

Scholarships from Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital’s Auxiliary have supported students pursuing a career into any field of medicine since 2000. Cumulatively, the hospital has donated more than $176,000 in financial assistance for students’ educational expenses.

To be eligible for the scholarships, the students had to be pursuing 12 credit hours or more in a health care-related career; were planning to attend, or were currently attending, an accredited college, university, community college or an accredited vocational program in Maricopa County; and were maintaining a current grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher. In addition to these requirements, other considerations for the scholarships included extra-curricular activities, volunteer activities and a written statement of academic goals.

Sharon Bouros, a 72-year-old volunteer at Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital, received the “Volunteer of the Year” Award. The Tempe resident was selected by her peers for the award, which was designed to recognize a volunteer for their outstanding achievements and dedication of more than 100 hours of yearly service. Sharon is one of seven volunteers to provide pastoral care at the hospital for the last 14 years. She also has served on the scholarship committee for the last 10 years, and was chosen for exhibiting a positive attitude toward the staff, fellow volunteers, patients, families, physicians and guests of the hospital.