By Laura Turner
SDN Staff Writer

The Student Doctor Network, in coordination with the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA), is pleased to announce the winner of the first annual SDN Scholarship in Community and Preventive Medicine. The inaugural winner is Tamar Nazerian, a first year medical student at Western University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Scholarship Winner Tamar Nazerian

The scholarship was launched earlier this year to provide support for students that plan to enter the field of community and preventive medicine.

Lee Burnett, physician and co-founder of SDN explains, “As a nonprofit charitable organization we have a responsibility to the greater community.  Our goal with the scholarship is to provide support to a student that also feels that sense of community responsibility. Tamar Nazerian has worked extensively in the area of preventative care. It is wonderful that she is the first recipient of this scholarship.”

Prior to matriculating at Western University, Ms. Nazerian served as the Project Coordinator for the University of Southern California/Childrens Hospital Los Angeles University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, working on two federally grant supported projects. The first was called Project Access for Pediatric Epilepsy, which used telemedicine to bridge the communication gap between pediatric primary care physicians and pediatric subspecialists in rural areas. The second project focused on providing children with special health care needs who are transitioning into adulthood with information to enable them to find appropriate medical care. She also worked at the UCLA Lili Claire Family Resource Center as a Program Coordinator.

Ms. Nazerian completed a Masters in Public Health at the University of Southern California, with a focus on Child and Family Health. She received her Bachelors of Science in Physiological Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a Public Affairs minor with a Social Welfare emphasis.

“I am thrilled and humbled to be the first recipient of this scholarship,” Tamar Nazerian said. “As I wrote in my application essay, I have found that the strategies that are most effective at improving the overall health of a community are not those that rely on individual behaviors or access, but instead focus on improving society’s collective health and wellness. My goal is to serve as a Pediatrician and focus on early intervention to improve the health and well being of children and society as a whole.”

A complete text of Tamar Nazerian’s application essay is available here.

“We look forward continuing to support students that are focused on community and preventive medicine with this and other scholarships in the future,” said Lee Burnett.  The annual SDN Preventive Medicine Scholarship was offered as two awards, one for SOMA and the other for the AMA-MSS.  SOMA chose to start the scholarship with the 2009 academic year.  In 2010, annual scholarships are planned for additional healthcare professions.