The Health Professional Student Association is thrilled to announce the awardees of the 2025 SDN Prehealth Scholarship. This year, the scholarship committee has chosen to award $2,500 scholarships to three exceptional prehealth students seeking to serve their communities as healthcare professionals.
About the Awardees
Degree Goal: DDS/DMD
Nancy Mahmoud is a graduating senior at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who will apply for admission to dental school in the 2025-2026 cycle. Through her volunteer work, she identified how language barriers, finances, and lack of education all translate into barriers to dental care. “I aspire to be a dentist who is not just a provider but a leader and advocate–someone who ensures that no child loses a tooth because they were never taught how to care for it,” she says, “My community needs me to bridge this gap, and I am ready to dedicate my career to that mission.”
Degree Goal: MD/DO
Gabriela Martinez recently completed her studies at Central Washington University and seeks a career as a physician. Before pursuing a healthcare career, she worked in agriculture and saw co-workers struggle with a lack of health insurance as well as being unable to take time off work to seek care. Through her work as a community health worker, “I developed the empathy and knowledge to work with different populations which will allow me to become a skilled and culturally competent physician that people can trust,” she noted, “As a future physician I will purposely apply the principles of understanding to build trusting relationships with patients and their communities to advocate for and provide quality patient care.”
Degree Goal: MD/DO
Shivam Patel is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He will seek admission to a medical school during the 2025-2026 cycle, with a goal of helping underserved populations access needed medical care. The child of immigrants, he wants to help those who struggle to navigate the complex health care system and delay seeking care. “I am not just entering medicine—I am picking up a call to action,” he states, “I am ready to reach beyond the limits of what is possible to ensure that every child who walks into a clinic…feels safe, seen, and heard.”
Breaking Financial Barriers for Future Healthcare Professionals
“Creating this scholarship program was a passion project for us,” said Laura Turner, Executive Director of HPSA. “As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Student Doctor Network, we wanted to create a meaningful legacy that directly addresses the financial barriers many talented students face. Through the SDN Forums community, we’ve witnessed firsthand how financial constraints can limit exceptional candidates from pursuing healthcare careers.”
Hundreds of students applied for the scholarship. The SDN Scholarship Committee emphasized that “Selecting just three awardees from our impressive applicant pool was incredibly challenging. Each of these students demonstrates not only academic excellence but also a genuine commitment to addressing healthcare disparities in their communities. Their personal stories and clear vision for how they’ll make an impact made them stand out.” The SDN Scholarship Committee included Emil Chuck, PhD, HPSA Director of Advising Services; Jordan Robinson, PhD, ABPP, Clinical Neuropsychology; Laura Turner, HPSA Executive Director; and Robert Viviano, DO, Emergency Medicine.
The scholarship will be awarded annually. Students who will be applying for health professional school in the 2026-2027 application cycle can request to be informed when the 2026 scholarship opens for new applications.
Laura Turner, MS, is the Executive Director of the Health Professional Student Association (HPSA), which publishes the Student Doctor Network (SDN). Prior to working with HPSA, she served for eight years as the Executive Director of SDN. At HPSA and SDN, Laura has been instrumental in providing students with tools and resources to pursue their aspirations in healthcare. Her previous roles include business analyst positions at The Capital Group and product management and marketing roles at software companies Paciolan, Adexa, and MSC Software.
In her current role at HPSA, Laura continues to drive innovation and forge partnerships to better support aspiring healthcare professionals. She is grateful for the opportunity to help countless individuals to achieve their dreams.