Two recent Montezuma-Cortez High School graduates have been presented with $500 Leonard Cain Medical Scholarships to pursue higher education in medical fields beginning this fall. Aryana Lee and Kaitlin Whited were selected after previously being enrolled in the med prep program and earning college credits at Southwest Colorado Community College while simultaneously attending high school.
Lee and Whited will continue their health-care education by attending area colleges. Whited will attend SCCC in Mancos to study medical assisting, while Lee plans to complete her prerequisite classes at Fort Lewis College before returning to the nursing program at SCCC in Durango.
The Leonard Cain Medical Scholarship was established for Dr. Leonard Cain, who was a physician in Cortez for 25 years until his death from cancer. Dr. Cain was a physician for 13 years in rural New Mexico and an honorary professor in family practice residency through the University of New Mexico. He practiced and strived for the highest level of physical and emotional care for his patients, and it was his wish to support students in the local medical community by providing them with scholarships to attend colleges in this Four Corners area.
Through donations from the community, the Leonard Cain Medical Scholarship has been a success and is now in its third year of providing awards to local students from high schools in Montezuma and Dolores counties who are motivated to pursue higher education in the medical field.
Selection criteria include academic performance, character, desire to obtain a college education, involvement in high school and/or community activities and economic need.
