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Student Awards

Overview Awards Funds and Reimbursements Scholarships

Student Awards

The UVA Medical Alumni Association and Medical School Foundation presents the following awards annually to medical students at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

Service Awards (require application by student)

  • Maxwell C. Feinman, MD, Class of 1954 Community Service Award: Established by the Class of 1954 and presented annually to a fourth year UVA medical student who has performed outstanding community service in the Charlottesville area, including surrounding counties. Determination of the award recipient is based on the quantity and quality of service and the student’s impact on the community. Learn more about application process.
  • Class of 1967 Joseph F. Smiddy, MD Altruism Award: The Class of 1967 established this award in recognition of the lifelong service of their classmate, Joseph F. Smiddy, MD. Beginning in 2020, the award will be presented to a fourth-year medical student who has demonstrated selfless service to the medically underserved. Recipients will be chosen for displaying reasonable self-sacrifice and generosity in serving others. Learn more about application process.
  • Class of 2012 John Edward Jones Memorial Award: The John Edward Jones Memorial Award was endowed by the School of Medicine Class of 2012 to honor the memory of their classmate who died in a tragic caving accident during his second year at UVA. This scholarship award recognizes outstanding medical students entering their third year of medical school who have demonstrated leadership efforts to eliminate health care inequalities and to address the educational, health care and societal needs of minorities in the US. Learn more about application process.

Awards by Clerkship or Area of Interest (selected by School of Medicine or committee)

  • Herbert R. Farber Award, which is presented annually to a student who excels on the internal medicine clerkship and also demonstrates excellence in athletics or in the fine or performing arts. The award honors Herbert R. Farber, MD, who graduated from the University of Virginia School of Medicine in 1940. His outside interests included accomplishments in both sports and the fine arts.
  • Richard W. Lindsay Award in Geriatrics, which recognizes excellence during the geriatric clerkship rotation. The award is named in honor of Richard W. Lindsay, MD, an emeritus professor of UVA’s Department of Internal Medicine and Family Practice. He served as head of the Division and Section of Geriatrics from 1977 until his retirement in 1999. During this time, he had an active practice of geriatric medicine involving all levels of geriatric care.
  • Gratton Alexander Litz Award: This award was established in memory of Gratton Alexander Litz, III, known as Alex, who graduated from the University of Virginia School of Medicine in 1983. He continued his training in internal medicine at the University of Alabama, where he won the award for the outstanding medical resident. He had been selected to become chief resident in that program, when his career and his life were tragically cut short by cancer which resulted in his death on November 2, 1986. Criteria for the Litz Award, so strongly manifested by Alex himself, include: excellent clinical skills; outstanding ability to interact with patients on a personal level; zest and enthusiasm for the clerkship; an eagerness to learn; a good sense of humor; evidence of being a well-rounded person.
  • Patricia F. and Garrett E. Ruhl Psychiatry Award recognizes excellence during the psychiatry clerkship and a demonstrated commitment to entering the field of psychiatry. The Ruhl Family, including alumna Parker Ruhl, MD ’06, established this endowed award in memory of their mother, Patricia, who died in June 2021 and in honor of their father, Col. (Ret.) Garrett E. Ruhl.  The fund was established to support mental health education in medical training at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.

Additional Student Awards (selected by School of Medicine, committee or UVA Medical Alumni Association)

  • Bowman Award: Each year since 1978, the Bowman Award has been presented to a fourth-year medical student at UVA who demonstrates the spirit and ideals with which Dick Bowman, MD ’74, impressed his fellow students, physicians, family and friends during his relatively short lifetime. Dr. Bowman died tragically in May 1977 as the result of a sailing accident in upstate New York.
  • Collaborative Learning Awards: These awards are given to a select number of students at the end of the 18 month pre-clerkship period and recognize and reward students identified by their peers as being most helpful to others in situations requiring problem solving, active listening and cooperative learning. The awards are announced during Transition Week.
  • Outstanding Student Award, presented annually to a member of the graduating class who has made unique and tangible contributions to the University of Virginia School of Medicine and to the Medical Alumni Association. This award is presented on behalf of the Medical Alumni Association Board of Directors and the Medical School Foundation Board of Trustees.