2025 Application Cycle
Open date: June 1, 2025
Deadline: August 31, 2025
Information & Background
Physician Associates in Hospice and Palliative Medicine (PAHPM) offers an annual scholarship of $1,500 from our PA Foundation sponsored fund to a currently enrolled Physician Assistant/Associate (PA) student interested in a career in hospice and palliative medicine. This scholarship was established in memory of Eva Dimitrov, MD, who faced a serious illness and recognized the vital role her caregivers played in her journey. Eva was a physician, sister, mother, wife, daughter, and colleague. Observing the exceptional communication and compassion skills of her caregivers, Eva’s husband and sister founded this scholarship in her name to honor her legacy.
This scholarship is designed to empower future PAs by equipping PA students dedicated to serious illness care with the necessary resources and tools to understand what it means to deliver palliative care. Our wish is that our scholarship recipients will become clinicians who offer compassionate care and guidance to patients, families, and caregivers who are facing serious and/or terminal illnesses.
Candidate Requirements:
- Student in good standing, with a minimum GPA of 3.0 at an accredited PA program in the United States (unofficial transcripts must be sent with the application)
- Active PAHPM Member (join here)
- Active AAPA/SAPPA Member
- Demonstration of interest in hospice and palliative medicine (HPM). This can include clinical experiences in HPM planned for their clinical year.
- Letter of recommendation/reference from an instructor or preceptor that includes:
- How they know and have interacted with you
- Their awareness of the program’s clinical sites and your interest in completing an HPM rotation
- Their awareness of your interest in caring for those with serious and terminal illnesses.
- The letter should comment on why the student should be considered for the scholarship, their maturity/emotional level, and their ability to work with others on a team if observed
- The letter of recommendation should be emailed to: info@pahpm.org
Application Requirements:
You will need to provide:
- Applicant Name, Mailing Address, Email, and Phone Number
- Name, Phone Number, and Email of your Program Director and/or Faculty Advisor
- Last unofficial/official interim grade report from your PA program
- Applicant Resume/CV
- Statement of Intent
- Please include a 750-word or less typed statement of intent on a separate page. Your statement should include personal background, pertinent experiences and/or interests in working with patients, families, and caregivers experiencing serious illness and/or terminal illness. State your future goals and expectations upon completing your PA program studies, and why you feel you should be considered for a PAHPM student scholarship.
- Suggestions for discussion include:
- What does comprehensive care mean to you? As a PA, how will you strive to incorporate this approach into your HPM practice?
- Share an experience where you observed or facilitated conversations around HPM and quality of life. What did you take from the experience, and how can you incorporate that into your practice? How would you approach those discussions and prepare if this is the first time the conversation occurs with a particular patient and family?
Important Dates to Remember:
- Applications Open: June 1, 2025
- Applications Close: August 31, 2025
Ready to Complete Your Application?
Apply Here: Online PAHPM Student Scholarship Application Form
Additional Questions?
Email info@pahpm.org.
For more information, visit the PAHPM website.