The purpose of the Pfizer Minority Medical Journalism Scholarship is to improve the breadth and quality of reporting of health and medical issues in minority or disadvantaged communities.

The latest recipients of the scholarship are second-year master's students Niveditha Ravi from India and Jeff Yeo from Singapore.

"This scholarship is a great opportunity for a student who has a passion for the field," said Tom Linden, director of the Medical Journalism Program.

The Pfizer scholarship offers a $7,000 stipend per semester and will pay for tuition plus health insurance for all four semesters of the student's master's program at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. To qualify for the program, students must:

• be regularly admitted to the Medical & Science Journalism Master's Program in the school;
• have submitted a completed application for the award, including academic transcripts, GRE test results, a curriculum vitae, a 500-word autobiographical sketch demonstrating motivation for and commitment to the intent of the award, three writing samples (preferably in journalistic form), and three letters of recommendation (which may be the same letters required for admission to the program);
• have had an undergraduate grade point average of "B" (3.0 GPA) or better for the last two years of study;
• have completed previous studies in related fields such as journalism, basic sciences, English, literature and/or public health;
• have prior work history or other demonstrated experience in journalism or health care;
• demonstrate financial need for this award (as determined by appropriate financial aid qualification procedures at the school).

Preference is given to minority and disadvantaged students. Application deadline is Jan. 1 for admission the following fall. For more information, contact Tom Linden, director of the Medical Journalism Program, at the following e-mail address: linden at unc dot edu. This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it