Kedar Patel, a fourth-year medical student at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, will be awarded an American Cochlear Implant Alliance Student Scholarship at the 17th International Conference on Cochlear Implants and Other Implantable Technologies (CL2024).
Patel is one of 21 post-graduate students nationwide who have received the scholarship.
As a scholarship recipient, he will receive:
- Registration to the conference
- A $120 stipend
- Student membership in the ACI Alliance
Scholarships are offered for full-time students, fellows, and postdoctoral scholars with a clinical or research interest in cochlear implants, which are small electronic devices that can provide sound to people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
Patel credits Sri K. Chennupati, MD, Lehigh Valley Health Network chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgical Specialties, Section of Pediatric Otolaryngology, and Alicia Stanley, AuD, an LVHN pediatric ear, nose, and throat specialist, with sparking his interest in the field and providing him with the opportunity to attend the conference.
“It feels amazing to be awarded this scholarship.I’m grateful to the professors who guided me to this field, which I plan to build a career around as a doctor,” Patel stated.
Patel intends to spend his residency years in otolaryngology pursuing a career as a cochlear implant expert in order to continue pursuing quality improvement and improved access to the treatment for people who require it.He will be honored at an international conference this summer in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.