Project HOPE and the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation Announce 2014 Recipients of Dr. Charles A. Sanders International Residency Scholarships

Millwood, VA, October 29, 2014

Project HOPE and the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation today announced the recipients of the 2014 Dr. Charles A. Sanders/Project HOPE International Residency Scholarships.  The prestigious and highly competitive scholarships offer medical residents and fellows studying at one of the four medical schools in the state of North Carolina the opportunity to practice medicine in a supervised capacity at Project HOPE program sites in the developing world.

The winners of the 2014 Sanders Scholarships are Dr. Nazia Sultana, a first-year critical care and pulmonary medicine fellow studying at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, and Dr. Nikole Bobadilla, a second-year OB/GYN resident at the Wake Forest School of Medicine.

“Drs. Sultana and Bobadilla are true humanitarians and will be exemplary Sanders Scholars,” said John P. Howe, III, M.D., President and CEO of Project HOPE.  “We are delighted to offer them the opportunity to practice medicine at our program sites, and we are confident their experiences will make them more globally conscious physicians.”

In mid-November 2014, Dr. Sultana will travel to Vijayawada, India, where she will spend one month practicing internal medicine under supervision at the NRI General Hospital.  Dr. Bobadilla will travel to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where she will treat patients at Project HOPE-supported women’s and children’s health clinics beginning February 2015.

Established in 2011, the Sanders scholarship program honors the legacy of Charles A. Sanders, M.D., the former Chairman and CEO of GlaxoSmithKline.  Dr. Sanders served as Project HOPE’s Chairman of the Board for more than 18 years, a tenure in which he demonstrated a deep commitment to improving quality and access to health care in the developing world.

The Sanders scholarship program is intended to expose young physicians from North Carolina to the challenges of practicing medicine in a low-resource setting.  It is the goal of the scholarship program to inspire the doctors to devote some of their future careers toward improving the health and lives of those in need in the developing world.

The scholarships cover all costs related to the program, including preparation/orientation, insurance, airfare and an in-country daily stipend.  Sanders scholars are chosen annually by Project HOPE and the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation in the spring following an application deadline at the end of February.

Resident physicians and fellows from the state of North Carolina will be invited to apply for future Sanders scholarships in early 2015.  For more information about the Sanders Scholarship program, please visit: http://www.projecthope.org/scholarship

About Project HOPE

Founded in 1958, Project HOPE (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) is dedicated to providing lasting solutions to health problems with the mission of helping people to help themselves.  Identifiable to many by the SS Hope, the world’s first peacetime hospital ship, Project HOPE now provides medical training and health education, as well as conducts humanitarian assistance programs in more than 35 countries.  Visit our website projecthope.org or follow us on Twitter @projecthopeorg.

About the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation

The North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation is an independent self-funding 501(c)3 non-profit organization supporting activities that help meet the educational, science and health needs of today’s society and future generations.  Since its creation in 1986, the Foundation has granted nearly $65 million (approximately 3 million each year) to support North Carolina nonprofit organizations. Visit the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation at NCGSKFoundation.org and follow it @ncgskfound.