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The Lara M. Rutan Endowed Scholarship awarded
$10,000 in scholarships to five Physician Assistant Studies (PAS)
students in the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health
Sciences (EACPHS), Wayne State University (WSU).
Established in 2007 in memory of PAS alumna and
Grosse Pointe resident Lara M. Rutan, the scholarship recognizes
scholastic achievement, encourages continued progress and provides
tuition assistance to students in financing their education in the
PAS program.
Scholarship recipients are Jennifer Cox of Canton,
MI; Gary Fannon of Brighton, MI; Brittany Immink of Plainwell, MI;
Annika Kramer of Grass Lake, MI; and Sara Wilchowski of Northville.
The students are entering the final year of the two-year Master of
Science degree program.
Lara M. Rutan earned a Master of Science degree in
Physician Assistant Studies in May 2005. She died the following
September in a tragic automobile accident caused by a drunk driver.
In her memory, Judy and Richard Rutan, parents of Lara, and their
family established the Lara M. Rutan Scholarship Fund to assist PAS
students. Since its inception, the Lara M. Rutan Endowed Scholarship
has awarded a total of $22,000 to 11 PAS students.
“We are grateful for the support that we have
received for Lara’s Endowed Scholarship,’ said the Rutans. ”The
kindness and generosity of our community help us continue to
celebrate Lara’s life and the profession that she so loved.” For
further information on Lara’s Legacy, please go to the
website:
www.laraslegacy.com
The WSU Physician Assistant Studies program is
centered on primary care and includes educational, research and
administrative activities. The program prepares students for
clinical roles in primary and specialty care in medical and surgical
practice settings in rural and urban areas. The program is
accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for
the Physician Assistant.
The Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health
Sciences, one of the founding colleges of Wayne State University, is
committed to advancing the health and well-being of society through
the preparation of highly skilled health care practitioners, and
through research to improve health care practices and treatment from
urban to global levels.
Wayne State University is a premier urban research
institution offering more than 400 academic programs through 13
schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students. |
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Jennifer Cox
Ms. Jennifer Cox has been working to
improve her life and her community through her education since
youth. During high school she was involved in Special Olympics and
an early literacy program at Livonia Hayes Elementary to improve the
lives of children in need. She also worked two jobs and maintained
a 3.5 GPA at Livonia Franklin High School. Jennifer continued to
pursue her education goals with vigor after completion of high
school; she excelled at Eastern Michigan University, and received
the EMU Regents Scholarship for 4 years and the Grace E.
Wertenberger Biology Scholarship for 2 years for her academic
achievements and financial need. Jennifer earned a Bachelor of
Science with an accumulative GPA of 3.78. During her college
education, Jennifer also made time to work several jobs and
volunteer at DMC Children’s Hospital playing with child patients and
their families, as well as, scrapbooking with their parents. She is
thankful for the individuals who helped her when she was a child in
need, and is happy to give back to her community and help children
in need through her education, time, and future career as a PA.
Jennifer is currently starting Year II of WSU PA program, and looks
forward to hopefully working in the Detroit metropolitan area, and
plans to apply to DMC Children’s Hospital upon completion of WSU PA
Program in 2012.
Gary Fannon
Mr. Gary Fannon
received an Associate Degree in Science from Schoolcraft College in
1998, completed the N.I.T. Medical Assistant program in 2006, and
obtained a Bachelors Degree in Community Health in May 2010. He is
the single father of three children, Kendyl Tru age 6, Brandon age
11 and Justin age 16. In 2005 he was a business owner, running two
used car lots. He found himself unhappy with where he was at in life
and took steps towards changing it by attending a medical assistant
program, given his desire to help others. Medical assisting
provided the path to a future in health care. He went back to
school with the focus of becoming a nurse, but that changed when he
discovered the P.A. profession. He separated himself slowly from
his business, and started working 70-80 hours a week as a medical
assistant to support his family and going to school full time. He
started working in urgent care, then family medicine, and finally at
U of M hospital in the level one trauma/burn center . For the first
two semesters of the PA program, he worked two jobs, teaching
medical assisting at nights as well as remaining at the trauma
center every weekend for two 12 hour shifts. Starting the third
semester he retained the trauma center position. Despite this
schedule of full-time graduate studies and employment, became
vice-president of his class and was in charge of information nights
for those that were interested in the P.A. program at WSU. He is
taking an educational leave from UM due to the clinical rotations,
and looks forward to helping those in need upon graduation in May
2012.
Brittany Immink
Ms. Brittany Immink,
a Year II student in the Wayne State PAS program, received her
bachelor's degree in human biology from Michigan State University.
As MSU, she minored in bioethics, and was a Medical Scholar within
the College of Osteopathic Medicine. During her undergraduate years,
she was active in the Student Society for Bioethics, PreSoma (a
student medical society), the Triathlon Club, and was a leader with
Campus Crusade for Christ. While at MSU, she attended the Martin
Luther King Student Leadership Conference and also studied abroad.
An active volunteer for over 20 years, she has self-funded six
mission trips, four of them in other countries. While at MSU, she
also participated in the Alternative Spring Break Program, including
the Beach Outreach Program in Panama City and the Katrina Relief
Project in New Orleans. Additional volunteer activities during the
past several years include raising $2,000 to purchase a water pump
and $1,100 toward a new roof for a Jamaican orphanage, volunteering
for the Plainwell Christmas Project for
needy families (each year since age 5), volunteering on the surgical
floor at Borgess Hospital, serving food at the community gospel
mission, serving with Habitat for Humanity House, and serving as an
after-school tutor for underprivileged children in Lansing. She has
received several awards for her volunteerism, including the
Kalamazoo Gazette Star Award. Following college, she worked at
Origami Brain Injury Center as a Rehabilitation Aide. A violinist
since age 7, Brittany has played for orchestras, chamber groups,
weddings, and as a soloist.
Annika Kramer
Ms. Annika Kramer
is a self described “older student”, returning to school after a
several year hiatus. She has 2 children, and is also the proud
grandmother of two. Prior to attending PA school, she worked as a
ICU technician at U of M hospitals. She also worked as a patient
advocate, and in a breast cancer center assisting with surgeries.
She is on her way to completing her dream of becoming a physician
assistant, a journey that actually started several years ago when
she first learned that Wayne State University was starting a
program.
Over the past
several years she has volunteered in the community primarily with
children that have disabilities. She was a para-pro in the Chelsea
Public School system, which included working with kids in the
Special Olympics. She has also worked with Therapeutic Riding in
Michigan. Over the years she has served on several committees as a
consultant for youth programs. She has been involved with re-writing
national objectives for the United States Pony Club as well as
initiating a program to bring the experience of riding and caring
for horses to children that might otherwise be unable to experience
the joys of caring for and riding horses. While working on policy
and development, she found that she missed being hands on, and
always found herself drawn to working with people rather than paper.
This fact is one reason that the PA profession is such a good fit
for her.
Sara Wilchowski
Ms. Sara M.
Wilchowski is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University with a
Bachelors of Science in Exercise Physiology. While at Eastern, she
was a Varsity Gymnast, President of the Exercise Science
Organization, Vice President of Phi Epsilon Kappa and a member of
the Dean’s Student Advisory Board. Sara was a part of the first
ever Mid American Conference Championship team for gymnastics at
EMU, she also received the MAC Commissioner’s award for academic and
athletic excellence and was a Scholastic All-American and EMU
Scholar Athlete. Sara is currently involved in the Student
Committee for the Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants. She
has plans to share her education to help those in need while she
travels with North Ridge Church’s Out Reach Ministries after
graduation.
Sara has also been
actively involved with helping others. In honor of her best friend,
cousin and aunt she has completed the Breast Cancer 3 day. She has
put others before her during herself through service to the
American Red Cross as a part of the First Aid Support Team. She
reached out to educate the university during the Undergraduate
Symposium of the severity of Sudden Cardiac Death in Athletes as
well as her published article in Journal of Clinical Kinesiology on
Medications in Diabetes Management. Her love and passion for
physiology and assisting others continues to grow during her
education at Wayne State University. There are many opportunities
that lay ahead and she is excited to see what life entails. |
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