Anna Sim (left) and Peter Sim, MD
Peter Sim, MD (Med’73) and his wife, Anna, established a merit scholarship benefiting medical students in honor of his father, Alan, who was “always a champion of education.” Alan completed his college degree in mechanical engineering during the Depression, partly due to a $50 loan from the Episcopal Diocese of New York. When he tried to pay it back, the bishop declined, asking him to remember what was done for him and to help someone else in the future.
It’s this history of generosity and a soft spot for those who are less advantaged that inspired Peter and Anna to create a scholarship open to all UVA medical students. Peter feels fortunate to have graduated from medical school at the University of Virginia in 1973 with minimal debt. He and Anna want to “pay it forward” by supporting students interested in medicine.
The Peter Alan Sim MD and Anna Cain Sim Scholarship is awarded annually to a minimum of two medical students. “For those of us [who] are privileged enough to make a decent amount of income during our professional lives, I just think it’s an obligation to do the same for others who are coming behind us,” Peter said.
And, in terms of impact, he added, “You’re not only helping that individual who is getting that scholarship but funding the thousands they will care for in their professional career.”
Read the full story about this scholarship in Pulse magazine’s “The Gift That Kept On Giving”.
To learn about three medical students who have been impacted by scholarships, read the Pulse story “Empowering Medical Students.”
For more information on how to support scholarship initiatives at UVA School of Medicine, please contact Chris Neal, Director of Development, School of Medicine Alumni, at cneal@virginia.edu or 434.466.1832.
Filed Under: Education, Philanthropy