HAGERSTOWN, Md. — The Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine (MSOM) will offer more than $1.6 million in scholarships to 15 students in its first class over the next four years.

That includes one full scholarship; the remainder are partial scholarships. The inaugural class of 90 students is due to fill the D.M. Bowman Academic Hall in July.

Funding for the scholarships comes from Meritus Health, its leaders and physicians, and its volunteers, as well as the Washington County Chamber of Commerce.

“We are extraordinarily proud of our health system and business community for stepping up to help our students,” said MSOM President Maulik Joshi, Dr.P.H. “This group of bright and dedicated young people will be able to focus less on finances and more on training to become physicians who will be socially responsible, professionally accomplished and community oriented.”

Some of the scholarships are standard grants awarded annually based on merit and/or financial need and contingent upon students maintaining high performance. However, many are structured as forgivable loans, requiring students to work for the health system for a period of time after graduation.

The Meritus Medical Center Auxiliary established the first scholarship in MSOM’s history, the Meritus Auxiliary Regional Scholars Program. The scholarship covers full tuition over four years totaling $220,000 for one student.

Auxiliary President Gerry Philp said the school’s mission to educate more physicians and keep them in this region aligned with the Auxiliary’s mission of supporting the activities of Meritus Medical Center.

“We thought this was a very good cause,” he said. “We had given money to the school in the capital campaign, and we wanted to see it successful, so we thought it would be good to do a full scholarship versus a partial, and we had the funds available to commit.”

Other scholarships and donors include:

Meritus Health Scholars Program

Four scholarships of $25,000 for each of four years for a total of $100,000 per recipient.

Donor: This scholarship was established by Meritus Health, which wants to ensure that the community thrives by bringing the best and brightest future physicians to our region.

Meritus President's Scholarship

Awarded to one student in the inaugural MSOM class. The scholarship award will be $25,000 a year for four years for a total of $100,000.

Donor: This scholarship was funded by the MSOM president.

Meritus Leaders Scholarship

Awarded to one student in the inaugural MSOM class. The scholarship award will be $25,000 per year for four years for a total of $100,000

Donor: This scholarship was funded by donations from Meritus senior leaders.

Meritus Physicians' Scholarship

Awarded to two students in the inaugural MSOM class. The scholarship award will be $25,000 per year for four years for a total of $100,000 each.

Donor: This scholarship was funded by donations from Meritus physicians.

Chamber of Commerce Scholarship

Six scholarships of $26,000 for each of four years for a total of $104,000 over four years.

Donor: These scholarships were made possible by the generosity of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce which received a grant from Maryland Physicians Care to establish the program.

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Meritus Health, Western Maryland’s largest health care provider, is located at the crossroads of Western Maryland, Southern Pennsylvania and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The mission of Meritus Health is to improve the health of the region by providing the best healthcare, health services and medical education. As an anchor organization for the community, Meritus has 4,000 employees and serves more than 200,000 residents of the tristate region through Meritus Medical Center, Brook Lane Health Services, Meritus Medical Group, Meritus Home Health, Meritus Equipped for Life, and the Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine. More information can be found at www.MeritusHealth.com or visit our Facebook page or LinkedIn page.