The new scholarship will boost the number of physicians and physician assistants in Maricopa County and the state at large, both of which are facing a significant shortage of healthcare providers.

PHOENIX – A new scholarship for Creighton University students will boost the number of physicians and physician assistants in Maricopa County and the state at large, both of which are facing a significant shortage of healthcare providers.

Each year, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Foundation for Community & Health Advancement (AZ Blue Foundation) Annual Scholarship will support four students in the School of Medicine at the Creighton University Health Sciences Campus – Phoenix.

Two of the annual recipients will be medical students; two will be future physician assistants. Providers in both professions are critically needed to face the demands of the Valley’s growing, aging patient populations.

In the U.S., Arizona ranks 42nd for primary care access, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, with an additional 2,000 primary care physicians needed by 2030. Every county in the state has a partial or significant healthcare shortage. Statewide, physician assistants and nurse practitioners increasingly are filling the gap for primary care.

“With this scholarship, the AZ Blue Foundation is further investing in Maricopa County and shaping the future of care across the state,” said Christine Bracamonte Wiggs, PhD, MPH, MS, President of the AZ Blue Foundation. “We know that Creighton-educated healthcare providers will be fully prepared to meet the needs of Arizona’s growing number of patients, today and tomorrow.”

The inaugural recipients of the scholarship are fourth-year medical students Eleanor Johnston and Sarah Batt, and physician assistant students Nayla Gebara and Brittney Jimenez.

Jimenez, from Chandler, Arizona, plans to stay in the Phoenix area after graduating in December. Part of her reason for going into healthcare — and practicing it in Phoenix — was growing up seeing her grandparents struggle to receive proper care because they didn’t speak English.

“They often relied on family members to translate for them, and that stayed with me,” Jimenez said. “I wanted to be someone who could walk into the room and speak to patients in their language, whether it’s Spanish or English.”

Receiving this scholarship, Jimenez said, has been a blessing, not only relieving financial stress but also “helping reaffirm that others are believing in the work that I’m doing and the provider I want to become and the future I hope to make possible. This scholarship and my Creighton education are allowing me to fully focus on learning, serving and growing in this profession.”

Scholarship recipient Sarah Batt will also stay in the state after graduating. She will soon begin her pediatrics residency at Phoenix Children's Hospital.

“Before medical school, I always envisioned myself going back to my home state of Pennsylvania, but then I fell in love with Phoenix and the patient populations that we serve,” Batt said.

Phoenix gradually became her top choice for placement after continual rotations at several area hospitals, including Valleywise Health Medical Center and Phoenix Children’s, her new employer.

“Through my rotations in Phoenix, I’ve seen how social determinants play into a patient’s health and how important a holistic approach of caring for the whole person is to their care,” Batt said. “I’m so excited to stay here. It means I will be able to continue to have the same community partnerships I developed as a Creighton medical student and to serve the same diverse patient populations.”

Batt said that the AZ Blue Foundation, by supporting community-minded future physicians and physician assistants like herself, “shows its commitment to addressing healthcare inequities and serving the most underserved patients in our state.

“I’m very grateful for this scholarship for myself and my fellow recipients, but also for the many, many patients we will have the privilege to care for in Arizona.”

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A New Scholarship is Bringing More Physicians and Physician Assistants to Phoenix