Fourth-Year Students
Presented the week of graduation, these awards honor the achievements and hard work of our fourth-year medical students.
Bertha and Lake Polan Award
This award is presented to the member or members of the graduating class attaining the highest academic standing during his or her four years of medical education. The Polan family established this award to honor Dr. Lake and Mrs. Bertha Polan, who devoted most of their lives to public service and health affairs. Dr. Polan established a medical practice in Huntington in 1915 and later, with his sons, established the Zenith Optical Company, the first precision optical plant in the U.S. and a pioneer in manufacturing lenses on a production basis. Two of their grandchildren are Dr. Mary Lake Polan, former professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Stanford University and a current Professor of Clinical Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the Yale University School of Medicine, who presented The Last Lecture to Marshall’s 1994 medical graduates, and the late Charles "Chuck" Polan, a businessman and former member of Huntington's city council.
Cutting Edge Award
This award is presented in memory of Dr. Homer Cummings, professor and founding chair of the Department of Surgery. Department faculty select the highest achieving graduating student matched in general surgery. This student exhibits academic excellence and a willingness to act as a servant to patients and to the community.
Faculty Choice Award
This special honor is presented by the Marshall University School of Medicine Alumni Association to the most outstanding fourth-year medical student as selected by the faculty.
Mildred Mitchell Bateman Psychiatry Student of the Year Award
This award is named for the inaugural chair of the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine, Mildred Mitchell Bateman, MD. Department faculty select the graduating student matched in psychiatry who best exemplifies the characteristics that were trademarks of Dr. Bateman’s patient care, including compassion and humanism. Dr. Mitchell-Bateman was the first African-American woman to be named to a high-ranking office in West Virginia state government. She served as director of the Department of Mental Health from 1962 until 1977, when she became chair of psychiatry for the newly-formed Marshall School of Medicine.
Dr. David K. Heydinger Award
Given in honor of the late David K. Heydinger, MD, a thoracic surgeon, the Dr. David K. Heydinger Award is presented to the fourth-year medical student who exhibits an outstanding commitment to family medicine, academic excellence and leadership potential. A mid-career change led Dr. Heydinger into rural and public health care fields and, in 1975, he became President of Appalachian Regional Hospitals. He then served as associate dean for academic affairs and professor and the second chair of the Department of Family & Community Health at Marshall University.
Dr. Maurice A. and Diane W. Mufson Award
The Dr. Maurice A. and Diane W. Mufson Award is given to the outstanding, graduating fourth-year medical student who has excelled in the residency courses of the Department of Internal Medicine, who has matched in an internal medicine residency in the National Resident Matching Plan, and plans a career in internal medicine or one of its subspecialties. The Mufsons established an endowment in 1997 that serves as a reminder of the foundation, commitment to excellence and leadership the Mufsons have displayed over the years, Dr. Mufson as chair emeritus of internal medicine and Mrs. Mufson as a psychologist.
Neurology Student of the Year
The neurology student of year award is presented to a graduating medical student – who has chosen to pursue a career in neurology – that has exhibited academic, clinical and humanistic excellence. The recipient is chosen by neurology faculty members.
Neurosurgery Student of the Year
The neurosurgery student of year award is presented to a graduating medical student – who has chosen to pursue a career in neurosurgery – that has exhibited academic, clinical and humanistic excellence. The recipient is chosen by neurosurgery faculty members.
Dr. Robert B. Walker Award
Given in honor of Robert B. Walker, MD, the Dr. Robert B. Walker Award is presented to the fourth-year medical student who shows outstanding dedication to rural primary care. Hailed as one of the nation’s premier advocates for rural health care and a former chair of the Department of Family & Community Health, Dr. Walker graduated the from the University of Florida College of Medicine and joined the National Health Service Corps (NHSC). During his time with NHSC, Dr. Walker and a colleague were assigned to rural West Virginia. They opened a clinic in an abandoned grocery store in Hamlin, West Virginia. The clinic became the first rural health clinic in America--Lincoln Primary Care Center.
