News release: Tarrant Scholarship awarded to three medical students
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 23, 2013
CALGARY – On Wednesday, October 23 at 1:30 p.m., the Alberta Medical Association’s (AMA’s) Section of Rural Medicine will present the Tarrant Scholarship to three Alberta medical students. The ceremony will take place at Toscana Italian Grill (1B-8330 Macleod Trail SE) in Calgary.
Find out more about the recipients >>
The Tarrant Scholarship is awarded to third-year medical students who have demonstrated an interest in, and dedication to, rural medical issues in their undergraduate work.
This year, one student from the University of Alberta (U of A) and two students from the University of Calgary (U of C) will receive the scholarship. It provides a full year’s tuition for the U of A recipient and a full year’s tuition will be divided between the two U of C recipients.
The 2013 Tarrant Scholarship recipients are U of A medical student Jarritt Seeman from Claresholm AB, and University of Calgary medical students Michael Beach from Waterloo ON and Edward Schaffer from Bassano AB.
“We had several good candidates this year and I’m delighted that rural medicine is appealing to many medical students,” said Dr. Tobias N.M. Gelber, President, AMA Section of Rural Medicine. “I know this year’s recipients will be a great asset to the rural communities in which they may choose to practice medicine.”
The scholarship is named in honor of the late Dr. Michael Tarrant, a Calgary family physician, who championed rural medical undergraduate education. It is one of Alberta’s largest unrestricted medical school undergraduate awards.
Since its inception in 2004, the Tarrant scholarship has been awarded to 27 medical students and provided over $250,000. Information about the scholarship is available at www.albertadoctors.org.
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For more information or to request an interview, please contact:
Alexis Caddy
Communications Consultant
Alberta Medical Association
T 780.482.0677 TF 1.800.272.9680, ext. 677
Recipient biographies
University of Alberta (U of A)
Jarritt Seeman
Jarritt Seeman was raised in Claresholm AB. From a young age, he was very involved with community sports including hockey, baseball and swimming. He attended Willow Creek Composite High School in Claresholm, where he played high school football and high school baseball (as well as continuing with minor hockey).
Following high school, Mr. Seeman attended the U of A and completed a BSc in kinesiology. Throughout his undergraduate degree, he was very involved in the agriculture club and the FarmHouse Fraternity, which he joined because of their association with small towns and rural life.
When Mr. Seeman started medical school, he was drawn to family medicine almost immediately because of the relationships and continuity of care family medicine fosters. In his second year, Mr. Seeman represented his Medical Students’ Association on the Alberta College of Family Physicians Board of Directors.
Mr. Seeman is currently enrolled in the Integrated Community Clerkship program in Edson. He strongly believes that the best care occurs in a patient’s home community where they are comfortable, and he really hopes to be able to provide that for a community one day.
University of Calgary (U of C)
Michael Beach
Michael Beach grew up in Waterloo, Ontario. He headed to the west coast for his undergraduate education, completing his BSc at Trinity Western University followed by his MSc at the University of British Columbia.
Mr. Beach’s wife, Stephanie, was raised on a ranch in Pollockville AB and quickly saw to his “rural education.” Be it calving, branding or harvest time, they both enjoy contributing to and being a part of the farm life that was so instrumental in his wife’s upbringing.
Through his medical education, Mr. Beach has been an active leader and advocate for family medicine by serving as an executive for the Family Medicine Interest Group, and taking on roles on several College of Family Physicians of Canada councils as a medical student representative.
In the future, Mr. Beach plans to stay in Alberta in a rural-based practice and is also interested in pursuing advanced skills training in either anesthesia or emergency medicine.
Edward Schaffer
Edward Schaffer was born and raised in Bassano, Alberta. He spent his childhood enjoying all the benefits of growing up in a small town.
After high school, Mr. Schaffer completed the Lakeland College fire fighter training program and received his credentials as a fire fighter and EMT-A. He worked as a fire fighter and EMT in the oil and gas industry throughout Western Canada.
During a volunteer medical trip to Guatemala in 2008, Mr. Schaffer was inspired by the physicians he worked alongside, and he decided to apply to medical school following his completion of a three-year human nutrition program at U of A.
Mr. Schaffer has always been drawn to the scope of practice of rural family physicians, and has tried to experience rural medicine throughout Alberta during his training.
His intention is to take additional training after his family medicine residency in order to provide surgical obstetrics and minor surgical procedures, in addition to his responsibilities as a family physician.
