SUNY Downstate Announces Three Scholarships to Provide Financial Support To Nursing Students
Aug 24, 2023
BROOKLYN, NY–SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University announced three scholarships for College of Nursing students attending SUNY Downstate this fall that will provide financial support for those needing the most help.
The Giancarlo Iosue Scholarship will be awarded to two nursing students pursuing a neonatal nursing career. It is funded through Mr. and Mrs. Agostino Iosue in memory of their son Giancarlo. Scholarship recipients will be awarded $10K each year and mentored by Dr. Lori Escallier, Dean of the College of Nursing. The program’s director is Joanne Ritter-Teitel, Ph.D., RN, NEA-BC, Associate Dean, Clinical Affairs and Community Partnerships, and Associate Professor, College of Nursing.
The Nursing Cares Fund is a needs-based fund that will help nursing students experiencing hardships to meet immediate expenses. Students currently enrolled in the College of Nursing may apply for funds to cover expenses such as textbooks, medications, food, utilities, technological support, clothing, shelter, disaster relief, and travel costs due to the death or illness of an immediate family member.
The College of Nursing also received an award of approximately $1M from the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) for the Scholarship for Disadvantaged Students Program (SDS). The SDS, created in 2021 last year, awarded 88 students scholarships covering more than half their yearly tuition costs. Applications are now open to eligible students for the 2023-2024 academic year.
“Scholarships enable educators and staff at the College of Nursing to better assist the future generation of Downstate nurse leaders. By removing financial burdens, our nursing students can spend more time on their studies and with patients, better positioning them for the discipline of nursing,” said SUNY Downstate College of Nursing Dean and Professor Lori A. Escallier, Ph.D. RN CPNP-PC, FAAN. “Helping others is the heart of the nursing profession, and the College of Nursing thanks its benefactors who support our nursing students as they strive to do just that.”
Donald A. French, an inaugural SDS scholar in 2021, said: “Scholarships can make an academic dream a financial reality for aspiring healthcare leaders. As a doctoral candidate of the inaugural Doctor of Nursing Practice class of 2021 and a recipient of the SDS scholarship at SUNY Downstate, I am grateful for the opportunity.”
Dr. Josephine Edem, 2022 SDS Scholar, said: “My dream of obtaining my Doctor of Nursing Practice degree was made possible with the support of the HRSA SDS grant. With the grant, I could focus more on my studies and worry less about financial burdens. I am grateful that the HRSA SDS grant provided me financial assistance to continue my nursing education to give back and help underserved communities as a Family Nurse Practitioner at the Bedford-Stuyvesant Family Health Center.”
These scholarships are awarded for the 2023-2024 academic year; eligible students are encouraged to apply.
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Contact: Dawn S. Walker
347.533.2071 (Cell)
dawn.walker@downstate.edu
About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University is the borough’s only academic medical center for health education, research, and patient care. It is a 342-bed facility serving the healthcare needs of New York City and Brooklyn’s 2.6 million residents. University Hospital at Downstate (UHD) is Downstate’s teaching hospital; it is backed by an outstanding medical school’s expertise and world-class academic medical center research facilities. Over 800 physicians, representing 53 specialties and subspecialties—many of them ranked as tops in their fields—comprise Downstate’s staff.
In addition to high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis (kidney diseases)—and offering the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn, among many other distinctive programs. Downstate comprises a College of Medicine, a College of Nursing, a School of Health Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, a School of Public Health, and a multifaceted biotechnology initiative, including the Downstate Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT for early-stage and more mature companies, respectively. For more information, visit www.downstate.edu or follow us on Twitter at @sunydownstate.