Third-year Stritch School of Medicine student Moira Dwyer was one of just 10 medical students nationwide to be awarded a $10,000 American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation Minority Scholar Award for the 2006-07 school year.
The scholarships are awarded to students who show scholastic achievement and are members of ethnic groups traditionally underrepresented in the medical profession.
Dwyer, who is Cuban-American, says she chose Stritch partly because of its medical missions to third-world nations (International Service Immersions [ISIs]). The Guatemala ISI in which she participated “was a huge draw for me since I was interested in global health,” she says. “This program’s ideals aligned with my thinking about service and social justice.”
Dwyer was also attracted to Stritch’s mission of educating physicians in both the clinical and spiritual aspects of patient care, which creates compassionate, caring physicians who don’t lose their sense of dedication.
Though she’s considering specializing in hematology/oncology, Dwyer says that—whatever path
she chooses—she’s committed to working as an advocate for minority, uninsured, and immigrant patients.
“If there is intrinsic value to human life, then it is important for all people to have adequate and quality health care, regardless of race, ethnicity, beliefs, sexual orientation, or status,” she says.
"This program’s ideals aligned with my thinking about service and social justice.”
–Moira Dwyer