The Dr. Lacey E Wyatt Legacy Scholarship

Empowering Medical Students

At a moment when the need for physicians committed to underserved communities has never been greater, the

pathway for students most likely to answer that call is becoming increasingly fragile. Federal limits on student borrowing

are constricting financial flexibility just as the cost of medical education, housing, and basic living expenses continues to

rise, forcing many students to make decisions based not on vocation but on survival. At the same time, ongoing federal

assaults on initiatives to support student from communities underrepresented in medicine, threaten programs that have

supported these students. Their backgrounds and life experiences are accurate indicators that their careers would align

with service to under-resourced communities. These structural pressures are compounded by the very real housing and

food insecurity faced by a growing number of medical students, challenges that disproportionately affect those who are

first-generation, from lower-income families, or deeply committed to community-based practice rather than higher-

paying specialties. Without targeted scholarship support, we risk losing a generation of future physicians whose lived

experience, values, and commitment uniquely position them to serve communities with the greatest need—making your

investment not only an act of generosity, but a decisive intervention in the future of equitable health care.