UF medical students win Florida Medical Association honors

Three University of Florida medical students won the spotlight in elections and award presentations at the Florida Medical Association’s recent annual meeting in Miami.

Third-year student Marc Inglese was selected to receive the first Gerold L. Schiebler Scholarship given by the Florida Medical Foundation. Each year the foundation will award this $5,000 scholarship to a Florida medical student who demonstrates outstanding dedication to organized medicine and public health. Schiebler formerly held the positions of UF associate vice president of health affairs for external relations and FMA president. He now serves as an adjunct distinguished service professor in pediatrics at UF’s College of Medicine.

Inglese and second-year students Janice Ho and Jennifer LaPlante were elected to leadership positions on the FMA’s Medical Student Section Governing Council. Ho will serve as council chairwoman, and LaPlante and Inglese will represent Florida medical students as voting delegates to the FMA House of Delegates.

During the meeting, the American Medical Association Foundation presented UF’s College of Medicine with two checks totaling nearly $10,000. The money was raised by the FMA Alliance, a statewide organization of physicians’ spouses, through fund-raising activities and personal contributions. One check will go to the college’s Medical Student Assistance Fund, which supports AMA Foundation loans for medical students. The other will go to the Medical Excellence Fund, which supports medical student programs and research projects, and helps cover travel expenses for students attending AMA and other organization meetings.

The FMA is the largest organization representing Florida physicians and their patients.