HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Jeffrey W. Whightsel, M.D., understands the many challenges that come with balancing medical school and parenthood. He was a single dad when he was working toward his M.D.  

Now, Whightsel and his wife, Cheryl, have established the Dr. Jeffrey W. Whightsel Scholarship at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine dedicated to supporting entering first-year medical students with children or from single-parent families through medical school. The award is renewable for three additional years, pending normal academic progress.  

“It is a privilege to contribute to the future of a medical student’s education at Marshall,” Whightsel said. “This scholarship was created to help ease the financial burden for both the student and child.” 

Whightsel, a retired obstetrician-gynecologist in Ellingham, Illinois, graduated from Marshall’s medical school in 1984 and followed with an OB/GYN residency at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri. After residency, he fulfilled an obligation with the National Public Health Service in Huntington, prior to opening Effingham OBGYN in December 1992, where he practiced until his retirement in December 2020.   

For more information or to make a gift to the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, please contact Linda Holmes, director of development and alumni affairs, at 304.691.1711 or holmes@marshall.edu. For news and information about the school of medicine, follow us on X @MUSOMWV, like us on Facebook or visit jcesom.marshall.edu.  

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Date Posted: Monday, March 25, 2024