Six Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine students recently received Outstanding Student Awards for 2018-19 for work in and out of the classroom.

The annual awards are given to three rising M2 and three rising M3 students.

The three rising M2 students named Outstanding Students for 2018-19 were Jackson Harley, Grace Peterson, and Jamie Simpson.

Rising M3 students were Megan McCrohan, Manraj Sekhon, and Aryana Sharrak.

“We had a very competitive pool of candidates to consider this year,” said Keith Engwall, chair, Committee on Student Awards and assistant professor, Foundational Medical Studies.

The M1 and M2 Outstanding Student Awards began in 2012 as course awards. Analogous to the current clerkship awards, an award was granted to a student in each M1 and M2 course. 

In 2014, the decision was made to collapse the M1 and M2 course awards into the Outstanding Student Award for the M1 and M2 classes. It was determined three students in each class would be selected by the 15-member committee.

Qualifying students must be M1s or M2s and have demonstrated excellence in academics, service, leadership, and scholarship. They must also be in good academic standing.

Students are nominated by M1 and M2 course faculty members.

Engwall said the committee looks at number of nominations, as well as service, leadership, and scholarship information provided by the nominees.

Each student receives a $1,000 scholarship applied to his or her financial aid package for the next academic year. 

Students “honored” to receive award

Megan McCrohan, a rising M3, said she couldn’t express “how honored I feel to have received this recognition.”

Among other things during the year, she mentored undergraduates through OUWB’s American Medical Women’s Association.

“My classmates are some of the most hard-working, kind, and intelligent individuals I've ever met, and I am so grateful to have them to both challenge and support me in every endeavor,” McCrohan said. “I truly believe that the genuine backing of so many individuals within the OUWB community has allowed me to achieve and to go beyond so many of my goals during the first two years of medical school.”

Jackson Harley, a rising M2, has been involved in the Hispanic outreach program as a mentor for a first-generation Hispanic boy. Harley also is involved in other interest groups, such as the Robert J. Lucas Surgical Society.

“Receiving this recognition has been a really humbling experience because it has helped me reflect upon all the great students at OUWB,” he said. “We all work closely together in order to succeed and so receiving an award like this is really a reflection of the hard work of many students here who have helped me out over the last year.”

Manraj Sekhon, a rising M3, served as a class senator, was involved with the Michigan State Medical Society Medical Student Section, and worked with the nonprofit Families Against Narcotics.

“I feel incredibly blessed to have been recognized by this award,” he said. “I owe it to the amazing support from family, classmates, faculty, and staff along the way that have allowed me to reach my goals. I am proud to be part of OUWB and extremely grateful to grow with colleagues along the way.”

Grace Peterson, rising M2, also was involved with medical student government, including being elected president in March. She also served as one of OUWB’s student delegates at the Michigan State Medical Society House of Delegates.

Peterson said she was out to dinner with her father when she learned the exciting news that she had been selected as an Outstanding Student.

“I am so honored to receive this recognition and to be held in this regard by my educators and peers, because I am constantly in awe of how amazing our class has been,” Peterson said. “We’ve done very well this year academically and I am very impressed with how our class is involved in extracurricular activities. Most importantly, I really appreciate how supportive everyone has been of one another throughout the year. I am proud to be a part of this program, and honored to have received this award.” 

The six recipients will be recognized for these awards at the Honors Convocation in the year of their graduation.  

For information on last year's Outstanding Student Award recipients, click here.