The Patricia C. Perna Scholarship

Attention Students Planning to Enter the Medical Profession

The family of Patricia C. Perna is delighted to announce a scholarship in the memory of their wife and mother. Patricia Perna succumbed to cancer after a long and difficult illness. The family honored her wishes to live at home during the final stages of life. They found the care they administered proved meaningful to Patricia and to the members of the family.

The family now offers an annual scholarship to Honors students with the purpose of improving medical care in general and particularly home health care. What the family seeks are students willing to work on the redesign of medical technologies and procedures to improve the care and the comfort of those facing terminal illness. They have created an endowment that will fund a $5,000 scholarship to students who make significant contributions to this mission.

The first Perna Scholarship is offered this academic year. They did discover several problems with the colostomy and waste removal in the latter stages of Patricia’s illness. The resulting difficulties caused discomfort, pain, and led to an infection, which disrupted cancer treatment. The first design competition concerns the development of a method of waste removal for a bedridden, terminally ill patient. The complete details will be discussed with students who apply, but the system must be designed so that lay people such as family members can maintain its operation with minimum discomfort – both physically and emotionally.

To Apply

You must have at least two years of undergraduate study remaining following initial application. Additionally, you must be a current University Honors student.

Applicants must submit a paper – limited to 500 words – concerning your interest in the medical arts and sciences. The statement should convey any special qualities or abilities that make you competitive for such a scholarship. Please submit your paper with contact information to Russell Shrader by 5:00 p.m. on February 2, 2009.