Dzhuliyan (Jay) Vasilev, a Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, AZ Campus medical student says his decision to enter the medical profession was influenced by the death of his grandparents in Bulgaria.

HOUSTON, TX – Dzhuliyan (Jay) Vasilev, a second-year medical student at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, AZ Campus has been awarded SignatureCare Emergency Center’s 2021 fall semester Medical and Health Scholarship.

The $1,000 scholarship, given bi-annually to a U.S. student who demonstrates a deep commitment and passion for the healthcare field, is aimed at helping the student cover tuition, books, and other education-related expenses.

Accepting the scholarship award, Dzhuliyan (Jay) Vasilev thanked SignatureCare Emergency Center for the award adding that it will allow him to focus more on his studies instead of worrying about financial loans and debt.

“I am grateful for this SignatureCare Emergency Center scholarship opportunity. It really allows me to take away this stress from financial loans and debt that we go into as medical students and to focus a little bit more on my education,” he said.

“I’m extremely passionate about medical education and the field of medicine, and also giving back to others, teaching and volunteering. This scholarship award will help me further those endeavors,” Vasilev added.

He said that losing his grandparents to cancer in Bulgaria when he was in high school in the United States motivated him to work towards finding cures for diseases like cancer and to help improve healthcare in developing countries.

“I am grateful for this SignatureCare Emergency Center scholarship opportunity. It really allows me to take away this stress from financial loans and debt that we go into as medical students and to focus a little bit more on my education.”

“During high school, several health crises arose that began to transform my views on medicine. Within six months, two of my grandparents passed away, one at age 58 from tracheal cancer and the other at 60 with uterine cancer. 6,000 miles away and hopelessly incapable of offering any medical support, I was devastated.

“I knew that if my grandparents had lived in an area with access to state-of-the-art healthcare, their illnesses would have been diagnosed earlier, monitored more closely, and treated more effectively. A desire began to grow inside me: to work toward finding cures for diseases like cancer, to help improve healthcare in developing countries, and to strive toward never feeling this level of powerlessness in the face of serious illness again,” he added.

Rhonda Abbe, Director of Operations for SignatureCare Emergency Center congratulated Vasilev for the scholarship award, adding that she expects great things from him in the future.

“Dzhuliyan (Jay) Vasilev is passionate about medicine and healthcare. It is so obvious and I congratulate him on being chosen for this scholarship award. He deserves it. I am expecting great things from him in the future,” she said.

SignatureCare Emergency Center owns and manages the fastest growing group of 24-hour emergency rooms throughout Texas. We currently have ERs in Houston (Houston Heights, Montrose, Copperfield, Memorial City, Westchase, Bellaire, Mission Bend/Sugar Land, and Cypress/FM 1960), Atascocita (Humble), Spring, Plano, Stafford, Killeen, Pflugerville, Lewisville, Austin, College Station, Midland, Paris, Odessa and Texarkana, TX.

To learn more about our Health and Medical Scholarship, go to our Medical and Health scholarship page.