You can make a student’s dream reality.

Our goal is to enable more students from the Eastern Shore to pursue degrees in health care. In a rural region where many live below the poverty line, the cost of professional education can be a significant barrier. And the cost of education is rising.

UMB has created current use and endowed scholarship funds, ensuring that students from the Eastern Shore — now and for generations to come — will be able to attend UMB without worrying about the financial burden.

Average UMB Debt at Graduation

Hear what UMB student scholarship recipients say about what their scholarship — and UMB experience — has meant to them:

“I grew up in Wicomico County, Md., and attended college at Gettysburg (Pa.) College.

“Growing up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, I remember hearing my parents talk about the need for doctors in the area, and as I have gotten older and started exploring medical careers, I have become more aware of some of the unique challenges that residents on the Shore face when accessing health care. There is a need for more primary care physicians, and there also are limited specialists, which leads to situations where members of my town need to travel two hours over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to receive certain types of care. My shadowing experience in a family medicine practice in a particularly underserved part of Maryland in Somerset County introduced me to the importance of physicians knowing the community in which they serve and the challenges that members of that community face so that they can appropriately communicate, prescribe, and refer patients to community health resources.

“While I am excited about all the learning opportunities at UMSOM in Baltimore, I also want to gain early exposure to the realities of practicing medicine in rural parts of Maryland that lack many of the resources Baltimore has. There are different challenges that physicians and patients face on the Eastern Shore compared to Baltimore, and I hope to deepen my understanding of this during my medical school years so I can be more prepared for when I am eventually a practicing physician. I have always wanted to give back to the community I grew up in on the Eastern Shore, and I think R-HEALE and the Scholarship Pathway will help me do that.”

Sarah MacDonald
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Class of 2028
Dr. James and Carolyn Frenkil Rural Health Scholar
Hometown: Salisbury, Md.

“When I was 4 years old, I traveled to the United States from Pakistan, where I was born, with my 7-year-old brother alone. My parents were waiting for us in Long Island, N.Y., at that time. This is where I spent most of my childhood until seventh grade, which is when we moved to Salisbury, Md.

“We had made the decision to move due to the quality of life. My dad had been working three jobs in New York, and our family was struggling to make ends meet. With the help of my dad’s friend who had already been living in Salisbury, we were able to buy chicken farms in Salisbury, which is where I have been living for the past 11 years. In addition to my older brother, who is currently helping my dad manage the farms, I have two younger siblings who are in high school (my sister aspires to be a doctor, as well). I am the first in my family to have obtained an undergraduate degree in the United States and the first to attend medical school here.

 “Growing up as an immigrant and being raised primarily in a rural area, I have always understood how significant it is to have access to affordable and adequate health care. Because I live in an area that is considered medically underserved, I witnessed how there were so many patients in the hospital that I worked in (as a scribe) that could only receive their primary care through the emergency department, as many of them were underinsured or uninsured.

“This is a significant issue for those living in rural areas compared to an urban setting, because individuals who are seeking care in specific fields — cardiology, neurology, surgery, etc. — are unable to obtain this level of care because it is unavailable for them due to their insurance. In most urban settings, even those with a lack of insurance can get specialized care because there are certain outpatient clinics that accept such patients without payment, which is not the case in most rural settings.

“I witnessed this when one of my dad’s acquaintances who did not have adequate insurance broke multiple bones in his hand and had to undergo surgery. My dad took him to the emergency department here, and they had to transport him to Baltimore because there were no surgeons who could do his surgery at the hospital. All of his postoperative care also was in Baltimore because there were no local hand specialists that would see him without payment. As such, my dad and I had to take him several times to Baltimore, which is about a 2½-hour drive from us.

“This case, however, is unique because many people do not have the time to do this for an acquaintance they barely know without any personal gain. I find this to be a very concerning issue, which is why I think there needs to be a better system in place for specialized care in rural areas and what attracted me to being a part of the R-HEALE Program.”

Zobia Rani
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Class of 2028
Eastern Shore Rural Health Scholar
Hometown: Salisbury, Md.

Tahreem Riaz was born and raised in a rural area of Punjab, Pakistan, and moved to Maryland in 2017 and Harford County in 2019.

“I grew up in a medically underserved community, and I personally faced the challenges of not having access to quality health care. Because of the shortage of physicians, individuals of my village usually must go to far-off places to receive necessary health care. This presented a unique challenge — i.e., even medical providers who were well-intended to help patients were not able to fully comprehend the context of the patients’ problems. Because of the sheer volume of cases, it was challenging for them to build one-on-one connections with every patient.

“The disparities faced by the community that were rooted in socioeconomic factors were not always fully addressed by the health care professionals because they do not belong to the same background. My dad was a liver patient, and I remember that we used to take him to the specialists who were a four- to five-hour drive away from our house. It was extremely difficult to follow up with his providers because it was daunting to travel that far on a regular basis. Because of the infrequent follow-up visits, medical providers were not able to provide constant quality care.

“The disconnect between the medical providers and the community circumstances made me realize that it is extremely important to fully understand the local context of a community to help provide more compassionate and effective health care. This is why I am highly interested in practicing medicine on the Eastern Shore of Maryland after a residency through the R-HEALE Program. As I connect with patients, I will be able to provide more patient-centered care to Eastern Shore residents and understand their unique needs. In addition, through this program, I will be involved in research projects that are focused on improving population and community health of the rural areas. This will allow me to deeply understand the health disparity issues of the rural communities in addition to the social, economic, or cultural factors contributing to those disparities.

“By analyzing those underlying causes, I will be able to actively engage in research or health policy projects that aim to address those inequalities in the area. This ultimately will fulfill my urge to serve the underserved.”

Tahreem Riaz
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Class of 2028
Maryland State Government Rural Health Scholar
Hometown: Abington, Md.

Scholarships are critical in enabling more students from the Eastern Shore to pursue degrees in health care. Your philanthropic support can create a legacy and foster the promising futures of deserving and exceptional Eastern Shore students in perpetuity.

Learn how you can make a gift.