A global health issue that I feel passionately about is equitable access to comprehensive medical knowledge and care. This can take many forms, including poor access to adequate medical facilities, nutrition, and information sharing-- but the specific inequity that I feel most strongly about is the lack of timely access to evidence-based treatments due to insufficient insurance coverage. One specific example that first piqued my interest in this topic is a gene therapy, Zolgensma, which is an intervention for the congenital disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy. One dose given during a critical window of development before the patient's second birthday can replace or restore a faulty gene copy and save the lives of affected children. However, because not all insurance carriers cover the novel treatment, parents are often forced into privately fundraising in the hope of covering the two million dollar price tag-- and if they are unsuccessful, their children face certain death. This is a cruel and senseless outcome when an effective treatment already exists. Another example of contemporary healthcare access issues is in the treatment of hemophilia. My own baby has hemophilia, and with my employer-sponsored insurance plan, hematologic medicines cost $64 per month out-of-pocket. However, without insurance, the same hemophilia pharmaceutical costs $625,000 per patient per year. Cheaper medicines are available to treat this condition, but they often mean many more needle sticks and unnecessary stress on younger patients, who need higher and more frequent doses because they are less coordinated and more active, leading to greater risk of bleeding and tissue trauma. Prior to being accepted into medical school, I was an elected politician and healthcare economist by training. My ambition to now train as a physician is twofold: I love science, problem solving, and serving others, so taking care of patients and helping them to lead healthy lives is a natural fit. Secondly, a medical credential, in combination with my prior elected experience in politics, will enhance my advocacy work in the issue of patient access. It will help me to understand what gaps exist and what legislation is needed to address them, and lend credibility to me as a professional. Worldwide and domestically in the United States, too many people live outside of an area where they have consistent and timely access to a physician when needed; they lack uniform and accurate education about preventives like exercise, proper nutrition, and vaccination; they have inadequate or no insurance coverage; or they lack basic health measures such as water sanitation infrastructure, iodized salt, mineral-fortified milks and cereals, and pasteurization. They may live in food deserts or far away from a critical access hospital and tertiary and quaternary care. With my medical degree, I will advocate for the people in my community and beyond by championing programs that could greatly enhance quality of life, including Medicaid expansion, free nutrition and lactation clinics, preventive health fairs, and fairer insurance industry regulations to better protect patients. I am applying for this scholarship because, as a single mother of two preschool-aged children, I understand how expensive my training will be and that I will need to work hard to balance all of my obligations. The promise of setting a positive example for them and my passion for helping patients, especially children, to lead healthy lives as a future pediatrician reassures me that my effort and financial sacrifices will be worth it. I believe that the future of medicine needs passionate voices like mine to continue the effort for equal access to evidence-based care.

My career in public service began when I was a junior in college working at a community pool to help pay for school. While I loved my job working with children as a lifeguard and swim teacher, I noticed that often the pool equipment was in disrepair and there was no budget to replace broken equipment and pool toys. I started taking it upon myself to replace the items using my own paychecks. One day after purchasing a basketball net, I asked my manager why there was no money in the budget and he explained to me that the city council did not see the pool as a high priority. Dissatisfied with that answer, I walked to city hall on my lunch break and requested to meet the city manager, to register my objections. To my surprise, the city manager came out to meet with me then and there. He told me that when I got older I could run for city council and change things. That is exactly what I did, although I didn't wait to get any older first. I ran for city council and, at the age of 19, I became the youngest woman ever to win an election in Washington State. I won with almost 70% of the vote against a three-term incumbent on a campaign promising a new pool and recreation center that all of the community could enjoy. It took six years to accomplish, but that community center opened in 2020 with the help of over $18 million in grassroots community donations and a shared vision. Today, one in every ten residents has purchased an annual pass and tens of thousands of admissions are purchased each year. This was my inspiration for taking on a leadership role, but it was only the beginning. Over the years, I ascended to the mayor position and have worked on many issues that I am passionate about: domestic violence leave ordinances, smoke-free air in public spaces, and secure firearm storage to name a few. This year I am returning to school to pursue my lifelong dream of becoming a physician. I have been accepted to medical school and am excited to use my education to start seeing patients in my community. There are many under-served people in my broader neighborhood, especially seniors on fixed incomes, who do not have timely or reliable access to a physician or who cannot afford medical treatment. My dream is to train as a pediatric intensivist and remain local, serving the community that I love and where my passion for public service first ignited. Moreover, I hope to donate my time and skills to free clinics and health fairs, and to travel to sick patients in outlying rural areas where there is critical need. Perhaps most importantly, my education will give me the credentials needed to pursue necessary legislative change to the health care system, which is in desperate need of improvements and is inaccessible and unaffordable for far too many people. In this way, I do not see my education as the beginning of a new career, but rather an enhancement to the leadership career that began at the community pool all those years ago. The seeds were planted as a young girl working at the pool one summer, but my medical education will be the water and sunshine that help those seeds to blossom into several more decades of public service leadership.

My name is Shannon and I am applying for this scholarship because I am far beyond driven! For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of being a physician. Though my journey has been unorthodox, I have not allowed adversities to stop me from achieving my goals and striving to serve others. My collegiate career began at age 16, when I left behind home and everything I knew as an emancipated minor and enrolled in university. Despite working two jobs, I graduated on time with dual bachelor's degrees in pre-medicine and economics at age 20. Throughout undergrad, I lived in poverty, and many times I barely staved off dropping out due to lack of financial resources, but I was determined to find creative solutions to succeed. As a junior in college, I ran for election to my City Council, both to serve my community and to earn an income to support my education. Managing a campaign, working, and studying was hard work, but I was successful and at age 19, I became the youngest woman to win an election in Washington State, unseating a 12-year incumbent. After graduating with my master's degree, I went to work for MultiCare Health System, where I was the Strategy Manager at the first hospital system in the US affected by Covid. The experience of navigating Covid without resources or a blueprint, seeing patients in crisis conditions, reaffirmed my commitment to studying medicine. After 12 years of City Council service and shortly after ascending to the position of mayor, my partner of 17 years suffered a severe psychiatric break and was arrested for domestic violence. Suddenly, I found myself a single mom of two preschool-aged boys-- the sole person responsible for their physical, social, developmental, educational, emotional, and financial needs. It was scary to leave intimate partner violence. I did not expect to find myself breaking with everything I knew and forging my own path, again. However, I knew that this was also an opportunity: an opportunity to rebuild my life into what I wanted it to be; an opportunity to show my sons that it is a choice to rise to adversity and refuse to be broken. I decided that I was going to attend medical school and build us a better life. Every night after I would get my sons to sleep, I set a timer and studied for two hours for my entrance exams. Then I submitted my application and waited, and hoped... then one day I got the phone call that I was accepted! This year, I matriculated to medical school with the aspiration of becoming a pediatric critical care medicine doctor. As an elected official, I saw the desperate need in my community for more physicians. I will use my medical credentials to care for the under-served in my community, including donating my time to free clinics. I also intend to use my experience as a former legislator to advocate for health care reforms to expand access and improve affordability for the too many people who cannot afford medical services in my community and in the broader US. The reason I am applying for this scholarship is twofold: I love heavy metal music-- the lyricism, the community, the emotionality of the music-- and I also have financial need. As a solo parent, my greatest focus is on being a good mother to my children, who are the foremost motivation for everything I do. Scholarship funds will help me to spend more non-working time with them. Currently, I am working a job, doing side gigs, and hyper-commuting 300 miles each way between campus and home because we cannot afford to move closer at this time. These funds would offer a desperately-needed lifeline while I complete medical school. When I feel overwhelmed, I remember what my favorite band, I Prevail, said: "I will stop at nothing because I was made to rise above it."

My career in public service began when I was a junior in college working at a community pool to help pay for school. While I loved my job working with children as a lifeguard and swim teacher, I noticed that often the pool equipment was in disrepair and there was no budget to replace broken equipment and pool toys. I started taking it upon myself to replace the items using my own paychecks. One day after purchasing a basketball hoop net, I asked my manager why there was no money in the budget and he explained to me that the city council did not see the pool as a high priority. Dissatisfied with that answer, I drove to city hall on my lunch break and requested to meet the city manager, to register my objections. To my surprise, the city manager came out to meet with me then and there; I had never met him before. He told me that when I got older I could run for city council and change things. That is exactly what I did, although I didn't wait to get any older first. I ran for city council and, at the age of 19, I became the youngest woman ever to win an election in Washington State. I won with almost 70% of the vote against a three-term incumbent on a campaign promising a new pool and recreation center that all of the community could enjoy. It took six years to accomplish, but that community center opened in 2020 with the help of over $18 million in grassroots community donations and a shared vision. Today, one in every ten residents has purchased an annual pass and tens of thousands of admissions are purchased each year. This was my inspiration for entering public service, but it was only the beginning. Over the years, I ascended to the mayor position and have worked in several other public service roles for cities, parks departments, and Washington State. Public service is a passion of mine, and though I could potentially earn more working in the private sector, my heart is in community work and servant leadership. This year I am returning to school to pursue my lifelong dream of becoming a physician. I have been accepted to medical school and am excited to use my education to start seeing patients in my community. There are many under-served people in my broader neighborhood, especially seniors on fixed incomes, who do not have timely or reliable access to a physician or who cannot afford medical treatment. My dream is to train as a pediatric intensivist and remain local, serving the community that I love and where my passion for service first ignited. Moreover, I hope to donate my time and skills to free clinics and health fairs, and to travel to sick patients in outlying rural areas where there is critical need. Perhaps most importantly, my education will give me the credentials needed to pursue necessary legislative change to the health care system, which is in desperate need of improvements and is inaccessible and unaffordable for far too many people. In this way, I do not see my education as the beginning of a new career, but rather an enhancement to the public service career I have already begun to cultivate. The seeds were planted as a young girl working at the pool one summer, but my medical education will be the water and sunshine that help those seeds to blossom into several more decades of public service.

What I find most challenging about being a single parent in medical school is striking the balance between my studies and spending plenty of quality time with my children. While many single parents have the benefit of co-parenting with a former partner at least part of the time, I am my children's sole parent and exclusive provider. I am attending medical school and training to be a physician with the knowledge that my eventual career will create enhanced financial security for us and with the guiding philosophy that it is important for my children to see me succeeding in education and pursuing bettering myself despite challenges. However, it is not without sacrifice and difficulty. I see this scholarship helping us by providing a desperately-needed financial lifeline so that I can focus on studies with less worry about covering essential basics and making tuition payments. Each less hour spent on working to meet financial obligations is time that I can devote to them, playing, reading, and bonding. We have had to rebuild our family life after leaving domestic violence last year, which was both financially expensive and emotionally draining. Despite that adversity, the children are thriving, safe, happy, and resilient. They have made new friends and community in their school, and we are looking forward to the day that I start medical school in August. This will be a very special day for us as we each mark big milestones on the same day: my oldest child starting Kindergarten, my youngest son starting preschool, and me beginning medical school. Aside from my own passion for medicine, based in a love of science and a lifelong penchant for problem-solving combined with the desire to serve others, I am excited about the stability that this career can afford me and my children. I feel confident that once I have my medical degree in hand, I will be able to provide a secure life for us, including earning enough money to one day pay for their educations in turn. It is difficult to be a single parent and many times I have sacrificed meeting my own basic needs to ensure that my children have access to enrichment opportunities such as swim lessons and attending friends' birthday parties. I dream of a day when I am settled in my career and no longer feel stress and dread when the bills are due. I dream of my children having all of the same opportunities to grow into educated and well-rounded individuals that children growing up in dual-parent households can take for granted. With these funds, I can complete my degree and show my children that despite difficult circumstances, what we can dream we can achieve, as long as we are willing to work hard for it and remain adaptive. My children are the most important thing in my life and I am doing this just as much for them as for myself and my community. It has not been easy to leave family violence, navigate the family court system, keep my children safe, and attune to all of their needs (physical, health, emotional, social, spiritual, educational, and developmental) by myself. However, it is an honor to be their mother and I hope that I make them proud by prioritizing my education. I cannot wait to see their faces when I walk across the stage after earning my white coat.