Black Physicians of Carle Launch Scholarship Fund

Black Physicians Launch, Thrive and Significance Fund

Inspired by their own experiences and those of their colleagues, a group of Black physicians at Carle Health is launching an initiative to attract a diverse student population and support Carle Illinois College of Medicine’s students who come from groups that are underrepresented in medicine (URiM).

Black Physicians of Carle group leaders have established the Black Physicians Launch, Thrive and Significance Fund to provide scholarships to students at Carle Illinois who are from underrepresented groups. “Given the historical and ongoing lack of URiM students going into medicine, we thought it would be good to establish a scholarship fund to make it easier,” said Dr. Napoleon Knight. “Taking away some of the financial burden of going through medical school goes a long way to make the journey a little bit easier and will hopefully encourage more qualified students to apply.”

Preference will be given to students who have shown evidence of addressing health inequities that persist in Black/African American communities or who are committed to advancing the state of diversity in the medical sciences. “Most of us (physicians) end up owing a house in student loans due to the high cost of medical school,” Dr. Henry Moore explained. “We wanted to take away or at least help with that particular concern.”

Dr. Moore said he and others wanted to make a difference starting in their own back yard, but they hope to see a broader impact. “Some of these students will go back their home communities to practice. This allows us to directly affect the health care of these communities,” Moore said.

Donations to the new fund will be used to create an annual scholarship at Carle Illinois College of Medicine, administered through the University of Illinois Foundation. Gifts made to the fund can be credited through both the University of Illinois Foundation and the Carle Center for Philanthropy.