And the 2004 Major General Jerry Sanders Scholarship Program Winner is: Carissa Brown!!!!!!

Military Medicine, Fall 2004

AMSUS is proud to announce that Carissa Brown is the first Maj Gen Jerry Sanders Scholarship Award winner. Carissa is the daughter of AMSUS member Captain Tammy Brown, USPHS. Carissa is currently attending the Waukesha County Technical College and is pursuing the prerequisite courses necessary to successfully apply to the nursing program at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Upon completion of her undergraduate degree, Carissa is planning on obtaining both a masters and advanced practice degree as a Nurse practitioner. In the future, her ultimate goal is to follow in her mother's footsteps and work in the USPHS.

Carissa has a long history of community service, beginning in her elementary years and continuing to the present. She's raised funds for the American Diabetes Association by participating in bike tours, as well as volunteered her time at her local Road Runner Food Bank. She is also active in her church. She's assisted with church dinners, attended youth mission trips and volunteered at Presbyterian Hospital in the Child Life Program.

Carissa's exposure to the world of medicine includes a leadership training program she participated in while attending high school. The National Youth Leadership Forum in Medicine gave Carissa the opportunity to work with doctors, residents, nurses and even medical students in a variety of care and research settings. The young people were placed in fictitious medical situations, and had to figure out what was wrong. According to Carissa, "It gave me a taste of the medical world and helped me realize the medical career path I have chosen to take."

Carissa says that her experience in volunteering in hospitals, attending the National Youth Leadership Forum as well as taking Pre-Med and Advanced Pre-Med classes in high school were all key in her decision to pursue a career as a Nurse Practioner. But she's not finished there, "The next several years of my life will be spent educating and committing myself to the lives around me, and working together with other medical professionals in promoting a healthier community."

AMSUS congratulates Carissa and wishes her success in her academic pursuits. The Maj Gen Sanders Scholarship is made possible by a grant from TriWest Healthcare Alliance, an AMSUS Sustaining Member.