VCOM View Vol 9-1

DONOR SPOTLIGHT

Accepting the Endowed Scholarship Challenge

BY KYLIE RUDDER N iyati Sheth, DO, is the VCOM as an alumna. It’s been a decade since Dr. Sheth graduated with VCOM’s inaugural class in 2007. She fondly talks about seeing the VCOM-Virginia campus when it only had a foundation and the time spent with her classmates that she still gushes about. “President Rawlins, who was then Dean Rawlins, made a huge impact on me. She said ‘you remind me a lot of myself.’ She was such as admirable woman, that I wanted to live up to that standard. I went home with such a full heart after that interview and I felt like I was where I wanted to be, even though I never thought I’d leave Oklahoma to go to medical school.” Following graduation, Dr. Sheth completed her residency and fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic. Now she is an infectious disease specialist living in Loraine, Ohio with her husband and two children. She talks excitedly about being involved with her son’s Parent- Teacher Association and in the same breath blends her thoughts into how important education is for everyone. “The gift of education is the best gift you can give somebody,” she said. perfect picture of what it looks like to give back to

When deciding how to give back to VCOM, Dr. Sheth had some stipulations that her gift had to meet and the Endowed Scholarship Challenge fit just what she was looking for. “This is permanent and somewhere out there, there is going to be a student who is heavily-reliant on a scholarship. As long as they excel in micro-biology and pharmacology, which is your

foundation of medicine, I believe, then they deserve this scholarship. It will carry the College through from year to year.” She encourages others to give back to the place that made them the doctors they are today. “We, as alumni, are now in a position that we can give. This college gave me my foundation and my roots, and I owe so much to this college and the people who taught me so much about not just medicine but life. I will always support VCOM in many ways.” ■ “ The gift of education is the best gift you can give somebody.” Niyati Sheth, DO VCOM Alumna, Inaugural Class of 2007

winter 2018 | VCOM V iew M agazine 25