March 29, 2007

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — A fourth-year student has been named as the winner of an annual scholarship provided to women medical students at the UC Davis School of Medicine.

Mindy Young-Spint, a native of Corona, Calif., will receive $3,500 as the recipient of the Julita A. Fong, M.D., Scholarship. The scholarship is intended for "a woman medical student, during any year of her studies at UC Davis School of Medicine, who is a member of the American Medical Woman's Association (AMWA) and who is in need of financial assistance." Dr. Fong resides in Reedsport, Oregon.

Since entering the School of Medicine, Young-Spint has worked with student groups to incorporate into the school's curriculum courses on health topics related to women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. As a member of the student group Medical Students for Choice, Young-Spint gave lectures as part of her reproductive health elective, attended regional and national conferences, and helped the group raise funds to send more than 25 other students to conferences sponsored by the group.

In her second year, Young-Spint tutored students in the school's first-year physiology and anatomy classes. She has been the treasurer of the Class of 2007 during all four of her years in medical school and, for the past two years, Young-Spint has been a member of the school's Admissions Committee. She also has been a regional board member for the Association of Women Surgeons' student committee. For the past year, she has been a board member of Women in Medicine.

Young-Spint has been accepted in the general surgery residence program at UC Davis Health System. She plans to become a plastic surgeon to perform sexual reassignment surgeries and other general cosmetic surgeries.