For more information contact: Boonshoft School of Medicine, Judi Engle, Office of Public Relations, (937) 775-2951

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 1997

Dana Caylor awarded Kettering Scholarship for Geriatric Medicine

DAYTON, OHIO -- Dana Caylor has been chosen as one of the first recipients of the E.W. Kettering Family Scholarship for Geriatric Medicine at Wright State University School of Medicine. Caylor is one of four graduating medical students at Wright State who received the $25,000 scholarship.

The Kettering scholarship is designed to encourage Wright State medical students to pursue careers in primary care medicine with an emphasis on patient care for Dayton's growing elderly population. Caylor has made a two-year commitment to practice medicine in the Dayton area after completing her residency training in family medicine at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton.

Caylor's interest in geriatric medicine grew during her clinical training at the Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where she was exposed to elderly people with a wide range of abilities and disabilities. She saw a pressing need there to manage not just the physical, but also the psychological and social stresses that older people face every day.

"We have to recognize and address the unique needs of each patient," Caylor says. "Geriatric medicine is intellectually challenging, but it's more than that. The company of elderly people is something I enjoy. Their wisdom, their stories, their comfortable and casual ways -- are truly inspiring and strengthening."

Virginia Kettering and the Kettering Family Fund endowed a $1 million scholarship at Wright State University in April 1996 to support geriatric medical education at the School of Medicine. The program was launched with scholarships awarded to Caylor and three of her classmates. In the future, two $25,000 scholarships will be awarded annually.

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