Giving Back to the Next Generation of Physicians
Medical alumni buy stethoscopes for first-year students
Ryan Zehnder stands in front of the patient. He presses his stethoscope against the young man's chest, and listens to blood flowing through the aorta and out into the body.
Zehnder is a first-year medical student, and he was checking the heartbeat, not of a real patient, but of fellow medical student Harlan Gallinger, during an Introduction to Clinical Medicine course at the UW School of Medicine.
Thanks to a generous gift from the medical school alumni, Zehnder and other first-year students already have that familiar symbol for physicians: the stethoscope.
 |
The UW Medicine Alumni Association bought new stethoscopes for all of the nearly 180 first-year students, and presented them at the alumni-sponsored Family Day in September 2003. Students appreciated the gesture, which was a tangible way for alumni to help with the financial burden of medical school.
"The gesture by the alumni association was both extremely generous and practical," said Bill Pomeroy, another first-year student. "Before any of us had any idea how much all of our medical equipment was going to cost, we received one of the most fundamental and important tools of the practice of medicine."
Picking a stethoscope can be a source of anxiety for medical students, according to Dr. John Vassall, president of the UW Medicine Alumni Association.
"This is the first step in becoming a doctor," said Vassall, who graduated from the UW School of Medicine in 1978. "It was a big thing for me."
Stethoscopes may cost about $100, so it's not a major portion of the cost of medical school. But it's one less purchase the students had to worry about.
"When you're on a student budget, a hundred dollars can be quite significant," Vassall said. "This doesn't make a big dent in that financial burden, but every little bit helps."
This is the latest of many ways in which the medical school alumni help students at the School of Medicine along the path to becoming physicians, Pomeroy said.
"It was a nice feeling to know that the alumni were active in assisting and mentoring incoming medical students, and the stethoscopes we received were a concrete expression of their involvement," Pomeroy said.
The alumni association purchased the stethoscopes from a medical supply company. The alumni hope to continue the program for future classes.
Buying stethoscopes for incoming students is not the only way the UW Medicine Alumni Association hopes to assist with the rising costs of medical school, Vassall said.
"The average student leaves medical school and goes into residency training with nearly $80,000 in debt," Vassall said. "To bear that much debt before one's training is even completed is a huge burden."
The alumni would like to create more endowed scholarships to fund the education of medical students in the future, Vassall said.
Development note More than a tool, the stethoscope is a tangible symbol of trustworthiness and compassion. It's also a significant expense, especially on a student budget. For the second consecutive year, UW medical alumni gave first-year students their first stethoscopes at the alumni association's annual Family Day in September. |