Weiser Memorial announces first ever scholarship winners

by Philip A. Janquart
 The Weiser Memorial Hospital Foundation has announced the winners of its first WMH Foundation Healthcare Scholarship.
 Caden Cramer and Conner Lee, both 2020 Weiser High School graduates, each received $1,000 scholarships that will go directly toward their educational expenses.
 Cramer is currently a sophomore at the University of Idaho and is studying medical science in his pursuit of a career in anesthesiology.
 “I can’t thank everyone enough,” said Cramer, who graduated with 22 college credits and has already obtained his pre-health professions minor degree.
 “I’m going to put the money toward tuition and housing,” he said. “The University of Idaho runs between $18,000 and $20,000 a year. Every dollar helps and this scholarship helps me out a ton. It helps with the financial stress.”
 Cramer said he has been drawn to medicine and science since he was in elementary school.
 “As I’ve grown older, I’ve acquired a passion for mathematics, having graduated high school completing both Calculus 1 and 2,” he said. “It was a pretty big achievement for me, so with the passion for science and math, and medicine, it points me in the right direction of an anesthesiologist and what they do.”
 Cramer will eventually attend medical school for a total of eight years of college followed by a four-year residency.
 “My goal is to go to medical school at Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine,” he said. “I plan to work in a rural community. I don’t know where that might be. Weiser would be a good option since I grew up there and it would be cool to give back to the Weiser community. I want to work where I’m able to get to know my patients on a more personal level, not just by name, but more than that. In a big city, you can’t do that.”
 Conner Lee currently attends the College of Idaho and wants to become a physicians assistant. Lee was not immediately available for comment at the time of this story’s publication.
 Intended to assist students that live or work in the Washington County area, the Foundation’s scholarships are open to any student, of any age, currently pursuing degrees in the medical field.
 Applications were accepted from students in nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, pharmacy, or medicine/medical science (doctors). Preference is given to applicants who plan to return to rural healthcare after they have graduated from their program.
 A panel of three was charged with the difficult task of selecting two recipients among dozens of qualified applicants.
 The panel consisted of Foundation Director Linda Youngblood, Foundation Ex-officio Trustee Representative Sally Bouvia, and WMH Employee Representative Kimberly Burgess.
 “The caliber of the applications was amazing. Several of them have taken college courses while still in high school,” Youngblood said. “Several of them were very, very strong in the medical sciences, math, anatomy, and a couple of them were freshmen in college, but many of them were still in high school, taking college courses and getting straight A’s, 3.5 and 3.8 GPA’s, plus being active in their communities. We are looking for well-rounded students because … those are the same people who are going to do well in college because they can multitask already and they are going to come back into a community and contribute that to the community.”
 The Foundation was able to offer the scholarships through Idaho Gives 2021, a statewide event aimed at helping raise funds for Idaho non-profit organizations like the Foundation, which exists to generate financial aid and support for Weiser Memorial Hospital.
 Funds were also raised through community events, according to Bouvia.
 “I’m so excited that the Foundation can give back to the community and support Caden and Conner,” she said. “It was nice to invest in our students who graduated from Weiser High School. It shows what people gave their money for during the Weiser Festival of Trees and the Day of Giving. It not only goes to Weiser Memorial Hospital facilities, staff, and equipment, but it also invests in our students who are working toward careers in health care.”