ISU receives anonymous $10 million donation

Students in Idaho State University’s Masters of physician assistant studies program learn to perform a physical examination from Paula Phelps, MHE, PA-C. | Curtesy ISU
POCATELLO — Idaho State University’s physician assistant studies program has received an anonymous donation of $10 million dollars for student scholarships.
This amounts to one of the largest scholarship gifts ever received by ISU, the university said in a news release.
The scholarship fund was created in memory of Ginny Thomas, who devoted her life to supporting higher education opportunities for the less fortunate in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, the release says.
Paula Phelps, associate director and professor of the physician assistant studies program, said that among the donor’s goals for the scholarship is to increase the number of physician assistants in rural areas.
“My only wish is that sometime in the future you help someone else,” the donor is quoted as saying in the release.
“He hopes that if students have less student loan debt, that they will be able to afford to practice as a PA in a small rural town and not be forced to take a higher paying job in a big city,” Phelps says in the release. “We are so happy to be working with the donor to help place more primary care providers in rural areas. … The donor and I have talked several times over the years, and I am always taken with his selfless spirit and a desire to not only help students but to make a difference in the lives of the rural residents of the Pacific Northwest.”
The program is focused on training health care professionals to provide needed services, especially those in rural areas.
“This incredible gift epitomizes what it means to be genuine and pure of heart, like Ginny was,” VP for Health Sciences Rex Force said in the release. “We are incredibly humbled and appreciative of the generosity of this donor. Our students who will benefit from this selfless act of philanthropy and receive these scholarships will treasure the support. As they become health care professionals, it is our goal that they are moved to continue the spirit of giving.”
The post ISU receives anonymous $10 million donation appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com