The 2023 MICA Scholarship Awards are Given to Three Medical Students

The Mutual Insurance Company of Arizona (MICA) Medical Foundation Board of Trustees recently awarded scholarships to three University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix fourth-year medical students.

Emilia Anderson, Jacob Howshar and Armin Talle are preparing for the next phase of their journey, which is residency interviews. Prior to learning of the scholarship, each student received an email to meet with Guy Reed, MD, MS, dean of the college. Once there, they were given the surprising and positive news.

Anderson received the Robert F. Crawford, MD, Scholastic Achievement Award.

“I am honored to win this award and so appreciative of the recognition for academic achievement,” Anderson said. “With all of the exams and evaluations, any amount of recognition for our hard work is so validating.”

Going into her undergraduate years in college, Anderson knew she would pursue a science-related field. After exploring volunteer and clinical experiences and anatomy courses, she realized that medicine was right for her.

“I was influenced by my parents, both educators, because of their passion for education and the active roles they played in our community growing up,” Anderson said. “The role of a physician is a perfect mix of scientist, educator and community advocate.”

The MICA Board of Directors established the MICA Medical Foundation in 2014 to provide funding for physician education and training in Arizona. The organization also provides residency grants, scholastic achievement programs and pilot programs to improve patient outcomes.

Talle and Howshar both received a MICA Medical Foundation Scholastic Award.

Talle said visiting the dean’s office was nerve-racking at first, and he could not believe he won the scholarship until he saw his name on the paper.

“It feels incredible to win this award out of the blue,” Talle said. “I have so many brilliant and incredibly gifted classmates that I would not have considered myself a candidate for an award like this.”

Talle became inspired to go into medicine after witnessing his older brother get accepted into medical school. That single moment gave Talle the confidence to pursue the career.

“We have no immediate family in medicine, so we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into,” Talle said. “However, I could not imagine doing anything else in my career at this point.”

Howshar said it was quite a surprise to be called to the dean’s office for this scholarship and he feels deeply honored to be recognized for all his work throughout medical school.

“Medical students can get fatigued from all the hard work they put in for four years,” Howshar said. “When receiving an award like this, it’s a recognition of all the long hours and sleepless nights that we put in, so it feels very rewarding.”

Howshar said his hope for the next few months is to finish the fourth year of medical school strong, get accepted into a great residency program and care for a lot of patients during his intern year.

“I went into medicine because I didn’t see myself going into anything else,” Howshar said. “It’s exciting to be coming to an end, but I also look forward to what’s coming next.”