Jennifer Boccia '20 (center) examines a patient at Mad River Valley Health Center during her family medicine rotation with preceptor Sarah Abbot, D.O. (Photo: David Seaver)
The Vermont Medical Society’s Education and Research Foundation (VMSERF) awarded a $10,000 scholarship to University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine student Jennifer Boccia. Boccia was honored at the Vermont Medical Society’s 205th annual meeting held October 27, in Stowe, Vt.
Each year, VMSERF awards a scholarship to a medical student or students who are committed to practicing medicine in Vermont and caring for Vermonters. The scholarship program was created to encourage young doctors to return to Vermont after completing their residency training and is named in honor of Mildred Reardon, M.D., professor emerita at the Larner College of Medicine at UVM, who was instrumental in forming the VMSERF Foundation.
A member of the Class of 2020 at the Larner College of Medicine, Boccia earned a master’s degree in nursing from UVM’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences and a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Goddard College. While attending medical school, Boccia, with support from her husband, is raising four children in Moretown, Vt. She is keen on remaining in Vermont to practice medicine and hopes to do her residency at either UVM or Dartmouth. She has cited Vermont’s commitment to public health as a driving force behind her desire to establish a practice in the state and hopes to be able to give back to the state that has enabled her and her family to pursue her dreams.
The scholarship is funded through generous contributions from members of the Vermont Medical Society and the Chittenden County Medical Society.
The Vermont Medical Society is the leading voice of physicians in the state and is dedicated to advancing the practice of medicine by advocating on behalf of Vermont’s doctors and the patients and communities they care for. The Society serves its 2,000 members through public policy advocacy on the state and federal levels, as well as by providing legal, administrative and educational support, producing a rich flow of news and information and offering member benefits that increase medical practice effectiveness and efficiency. For more information, visit www.VTMD.org.
(This article was adapted from a news release produced by Jill Sudhoff-Guerin, policy and communications manager, Vermont Medical Society and is published here with permission.)