HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – About 17% of alumni from the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine give back to the school on an annual basis. Much of this support goes toward the school’s ongoing scholarship campaign to reduce medical student loan debt.

Four recently created scholarships established by medical school alumni support the school’s ongoing scholarship campaign to reduce medical student loan debt, and each are making a difference for their alma mater by supporting future graduates.

Kathryne J. Blair, M.D., a Huntington native, is a 2013 graduate from Marshall’s School of Medicine, where she also completed her general surgery residency. Now a board-certified general surgeon in London, Kentucky, Blair established a renewable scholarship for first-year medical students, with first preference to a resident of West Virginia. Blair says she hopes the scholarship will support women in medicine.

Class of 2004 graduates Drs. Glenn M. and Jennifer A. Brammer established an endowed scholarship for first-year medical students who are first-generation college and medical students from West Virginia, with first preference given to Logan County, West Virginia, residents. Glenn Brammer is a native of West Logan. He completed an internal residency at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, followed by cardiology and clinical cardiac electrophysiology fellowships at Wake Forest University. He is a board-certified cardiologist and electrophysiologist with August Health Cardiology in Fisherville, Virginia. Jennifer Brammer is from Prosperity, West Virginia, and completed her family medicine residency at the University of Virginia.

Bariatric surgeon Elizabeth A. “Betsy” Dovec, M.D., from the Class of 2007, and her husband, P. Aaron Wik, established an expendable scholarship to empower women choosing a career in surgery, a predominantly male field. The one-time scholarship award is designated for a medical student who has matched into a surgery residency, with first preference given to general surgery and second preference to a surgical specialty.

“The day I was accepted into Marshall’s School of Medicine was one of the proudest days of my life - the definition of life goals,” Dovec said. “I will forever be indebted to the School of Medicine for believing in me and laying the foundation for my career. The experiences and lasting friendships have shaped my life. Everyone was sincerely invested in providing me with all the resources to become a skilled and knowledgeable physician. I received an excellent education and am exceedingly proud to be an alumna. I hope to continue to pay it forward and impact future physicians, too.”

James F. O’Neal, M.D., and his wife, Dr. Emily C. De Los Reyes, also established an endowed scholarship for first-year medical students, with first preference given to a resident of Raleigh County, West Virginia, second preference to a resident of Kanawha County, West Virginia and third preference to a resident of Franklin County, Ohio. O’Neal, a native of Raleigh County, West Virginia, graduated from the Marshall School of Medicine in 1998, followed by an internal medicine residency at Charleston Area Medical Center. He serves as associate program director and director of operations/process improvement in the department of internal medicine at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. De Los Reyes is a professor of child neurology at The Ohio State University and serves as director of Batten’s Disease Center of Excellence at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus. Their son, Matthew, is a member of the Class of 2023.

"The Marshall University School of Medicine was paramount in educating me so I could fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming a physician,” O’Neal said. “We are supporting the School of Medicine to continue this endeavor for future medical students.”

For more information, or to make a gift to the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, please contact Linda Holmes, director of development and alumni affairs, by phone at 304-691-1711 or by e-mail at holmes@marshall.edu or visit //jcesom.marshall.edu/alumni.

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 ONeal-DeLosReyesFamily: Drs. James O’Neal and Emily C. De Los Reyes with their son, Matthew, during his white coat ceremony.

 BrammerFamily: Drs. Glenn and Jennifer Brammer with their four sons. 

Media Contact: Sheanna M. Spence, Director of External Affairs, School of Medicine, 304-691-1639

Date Posted: Thursday, October 3, 2019