$35,000 Gives Back Scholarship to support Arizona’s healthcare future

PHOENIX (March 1, 2023) —  The Arizona Lottery is proud to announce a $35,000 Gives Back partnership with the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, to fund a one-year scholarship for a medical student who needs the help and is committed to serving in an underserved specialty in an underserved or rural community in Arizona.

Needs-based scholarships give students, who otherwise would not be able to afford medical school, the opportunity to serve future Arizonans. The cost of a medical degree has more than tripled over the past decade and, with the average debt for a medical student graduate being $202,450. Many students choose lucrative specialties, like cosmetic surgery, in more affluent areas rather than specialties, like pediatrics or geriatrics, in rural and underserved communities.

The Arizona Lottery has a long history of supporting programs that benefit the public through higher education. The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix is the anchor of the Phoenix Bioscience Core, a 30-acre life sciences innovation district in Downtown. In fact, the historic buildings, which formerly comprised Phoenix Union High School on the campus, were renovated with Arizona Lottery transfer dollars to the Arizona Board of Regents’ University Bond Fund (UBF). Since the Arizona Lottery began funding the UBF in 2010, these dollars have provided debt service for more than $689 million in financing, allowing the state’s three universities to build out critical research and academic expansions while also addressing deferred maintenance on older buildings.

“Physicians play a critical role in delivering quality patient care and this is especially important as our state continues to grapple with an alarming healthcare worker shortage,” said Christopher Rogers, Arizona Lottery Deputy Director of Marketing and Products. “We are proud to invest in Arizona’s future by investing in our next generation of healthcare professionals.”

With the support of the Arizona Lottery one of Arizona’s best and brightest new doctors will be empowered to serve the most vulnerable Arizonans without much of the student loan debt that deters many from even entering the healthcare field.

“The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix is proud to train physicians who will care for the diverse communities in Phoenix and across Arizona. We are so grateful to the Arizona Lottery for their partnership. Through this scholarship, they are supporting the education of future physicians who will provide compassionate care, early disease detection and personalized treatment to their patients,” said Guy Reed, MD, MS, dean of the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix.

To learn more about the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix, please visit: www.phoenixmed.arizona.edu.