Alum Leads Drive for Tuition-Free DO Program
The ‘Together We DO’ Initiative Seeks to Raise $1.2 Million to Cover Tuition for 1 Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Student, Then to Add More
Dr. Jonathan Revels envisions a time when each student seeking a DO degree at Touro University California may do so tuition-free.
It’s a vision designed to help alleviate the projected physician shortage across the nation, not just in primary care specialties but across all specialties, while also addressing the need for physicians in rural and other underserved areas.
Revels, DO Class of 2012, first discussed the idea for an endowed scholarship in April while he was on campus to receive the inaugural Alumni Researcher of the Year award and to serve as the keynote speaker during Research Day. He also committed the first $1,000 to the cause.
“We want to start endowing full-ride scholarships for our TUCOM California students,” Revels said, referring to DO students. He calls the scholarship “a truly transformative gift.”
Idea to Fund Scholarships Takes Shape
Revels describes the concept as “a huge and slightly crazy idea,” but one that can make a real difference in people’s lives, whether it be the doctors who graduate from TUC or people in the communities they serve.
Dr. Tami Hendriksz, DO Class of 2006, Campus Provost and Dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine, said she loved the idea as soon as Revels presented it to her in April. The intervening months were used to put plans in place to launch the initiative Oct. 3, in time to benefit from end-of-the year charitable giving.
“I think as an institution, we are absolutely poised to be able to take this next step and be able to help our students in this new way,” Hendriksz said. “This is a small step that is going to make a huge difference for so many of our students.”
Initiative Maintains Focus on the Future of Medicine
The initiative, called "Together We DO," seeks to raise $1.2 million to fund a full-tuition scholarship for one student seeking a DO degree at TUC. The goal is to have 1,200 DO program alums commit to donating $1,000 a year to fund the endowed scholarship fund.
Donations will fund one full-tuition scholarship once $1.2 million is raised. Donations after that will fund a second scholarship, and so on until all DO students can benefit from a tuition-free education.
“By being endowed, these scholarships will live on beyond us,” Revels said.
Money that’s raised for the endowment will be invested, with proceeds from the investments – typically a combination of dividends and interest – used to fund the scholarships. The fund will be managed locally at TUC.
“TUCOM has been working hard to poise ourselves to be ready to address the nationwide shortage of physicians,” Hendriksz said. “We are very much addressing the workforce shortages right in the areas where they are most needed.”