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Jacquelyn Hoffman, a second-year medical student at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, has been awarded the Shirley D. Curson Medical Student Scholarship. The two-year scholarship provides about $15,000 a year and is awarded in a student’s third and fourth years of medical school.

The scholarship is awarded through the UA Hillel Foundation, an on-campus Jewish organization that encourages student leadership and initiative.

“When I received the news, I was ecstatic—it is a great honor!” Hoffman says. “This scholarship will enable me to continue to pursue my dream of becoming an OB-GYN physician while reducing the financial burden of the cost of my medical education.”

Hoffman holds a bachelor’s degree in gender and women’s studies from the University of California, Berkeley. As an undergraduate, as part of her minor in global poverty and practice, she volunteered at a sexually transmitted infections (STI) clinic in La Plata, Argentina, where she implemented a local human papillomavirus (HPV) awareness campaign to ensure women understood the importance of regular pap smears. Hoffman also volunteered at the San Francisco General Hospital Infertility Clinic, where she worked with immigrant women struggling to conceive.

Both volunteer experiences inspired Hoffman to pursue obstetrics and gynecology and serve women in low-resource communities where knowledge and access to health care may be limited.

Hoffman says one day she hopes “to practice in a socio-culturally diverse clinical setting, providing both surgical and clinical care for women. I intend to advocate for my patients and for reproductive health in the broader sense.”

The Shirley D. Curson Medical School Scholarship is a merit-based award that recognizes Jewish students with a personal history of social or civic responsibility and involvement.

“The Shirley D. Curson UA Hillel Foundation Scholarship is a very important award, not only because it provides significant relief for awardees from medical school indebtedness. It also recognizes awardees' past demonstration of outstanding leadership and commitment to Jewish life and the expression of Jewish values to help the medically underserved, and to continue their commitment to these values throughout their medical education and future practice of medicine,” says Nancy Koff, PhD, Hillel Foundation board member and chair of the scholarship committee.

Hoffman will earn her medical degree from the UA College of Medicine – Tucson in May 2021.

About the UA College of Medicine – Tucson

The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson is shaping the future of medicine through state-of-the-art medical education programs, groundbreaking research and advancements in patient care in Arizona and beyond. Founded in 1967, the college boasts more than 50 years of innovation, ranking among the top medical schools in the nation for research and primary care. Through the university's partnership with Banner Health, one of the largest nonprofit health care systems in the country, the college is leading the way in academic medicine. For more information, please visit medicine.arizona.edu.