AMA Awards UB Medical Student $10,000 Scholarship

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Michelle Lynn Niescierenko, of Rochester, a third-year medical student in the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, has been awarded a $10,000 American Medical Association Foundation National Scholarship to help offset the cost of her medical education.

The scholarship was created in 2004 as a part of the foundation's ongoing effort to provide financial assistance to medical students facing spiraling medical school debts. Niescierenko's scholarship was funded by the Audio-Digest Foundation.

Scholarship criteria can be academic achievement, financial need or a combination of both. Recipients are nominated by their schools.

Niescierenko has served as president of the UB chapter of the American Medical Association Medical Student Section and has been active with the school's American Medical Student Association chapter. She volunteers with the Lighthouse Free Medical Clinic in Buffalo, where she founded a program to improve access to care for urban minorities.

She has been an active researcher on both the undergraduate and graduate level, and plans to practice pediatrics.

"By going above and beyond in assisting the underserved in her community, while juggling a busy medical school schedule, Michelle Niescierenko has distinguished herself early in her medical career as a leader," said AMA Foundation President Linda Ford, M.D.

"We believe she represents the best spirit of caring and compassion for others that is the hallmark of American medicine."