Contact: Maridith Geuder
Each year, the medical school at St. Louis' Washington University awards only about a dozen full scholarships to its 120-member entering class. Two recent Mississippi State University graduates are among this year's select group.
Patrick F. Bergin of Madison and Benjamin D. Womack of Utica, both of whom completed their MSU studies summa cum laude*, recently began professional training with four-year awards covering the approximately $35,000-a-year tuition. Bergin received a biological engineering degree in May; Womack, a chemical engineering degree last December.
Founded in 1891, the W.U. School of Medicine is ranked first in the nation in student selectivity, according to the most recent U.S. News & World Report rankings of graduate and professional programs.
"It is one of the most competitive medical schools in the United States, with the highest combined Medical College Admissions Test scores and grade-point average of any freshman class in the nation," said MSU pre-medical adviser John Boyle, head of the biochemistry and molecular biology department.
Boyle said MSU's record in placing students at the prestigious school has earned it a deserved designation as a "feeder" university--one that has a high success in student applications.
Dr. John F. Walters, WU medical school's assistant dean for student affairs, echoed Boyle. He said Womack and Bergin were invited to apply for scholarships on the strength of their academic credentials, adding that the selections "speak volumes about the quality of their academic preparation."
"Because the people who apply for scholarships are extraordinary, it is very rare to have two students from the same school receive the awards in the same year," Walters said. "These students are invited to apply in a process that is even more demanding than that for admission to medical school. They are the 'crème de la crème.'"
Bergin, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Bergin, is receiving the Stuart Kornfeld Alumni Scholarship, one of four distinguished alumni scholarships awarded this year.
Womack, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Doug Womack, is the only one in his class receiving the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Medical Society Scholarship. His career goal is to become a primary care pediatrician.
At MSU, Womack was a member of Phi Kappa Phi and Golden Key honor societies. As a participant in the school's widely recognized cooperative education program, he alternated semesters between campus and a full-time position with the Lockheed-Martin Corp. in Manassas, Va. While attending classes in Starkville, he was a volunteer with the Brickfire Project, which operates several child-care centers and after-school programs in the community.
In a recent interview, Womack said he's finding that his MSU education makes him competitive with fellow students who graduated from Ivy League schools. "I'm in classes with students from Harvard and Princeton, and I feel that we're all on a level playing field," he said.
Bergin was a co-founder of the MSU chapter of the American Medical Student Association and a Starkville Habitat for Humanity volunteer. He also was a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Golden Key and several other honor societies.
While completing his studies, Bergin worked in the laboratory of biological engineering professor Joel D. Bumgardner.
"Patrick was an extraordinary student," Bumgardner said. "As a senior, he was performing work on a par with a senior doctoral student. He is one of those rare individuals who thinks independently and is able to draw conclusions with little supervision."
Boyle, the pre-med adviser, said MSU students have proven for decades to be among the most successful candidates from Mississippi in gaining medical school admission. In addition to Bergin and Womack at Washington University, other recent graduates now are enrolled in programs at Johns Hopkins and Vanderbilt universities and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Boyle also noted that some 20 percent of last year's University of Mississippi Medical Center graduating class held MSU undergraduate degrees.
*Summa cum laude, Latin for "with highest honors," recognizes graduates with final grade-point averages of 3.80 or better, based on a 4.0 scale.