As a child, most days after school, Kristen Bougher found herself in the office where her mother worked as a pediatric neurology nurse practitioner in their hometown of Pensacola, Florida. Patients and their families sometimes traveled more than 100 miles from neighboring rural towns and even other states to get treatment at the only place in the region with a pediatric neurology specialist.
“My mom’s patients would come from all over,” Bougher said, “and would drive a couple of hours…from different states like Georgia and Alabama. They would have to make long trips, especially the ones with more complex cases. She was able to reach a lot of people.”
Bougher admired the way her mother took time to build relationships with her patients, a bedside manner that carried more importance because for a lot of her patients and their families, it was the first time hearing the diagnoses they were given. “She took her time to explain everything and didn’t rush through the visit. I would see on their faces how grateful they were to have their questions answered,” Bougher said.
As she reflects on those many after-school hours, Bougher said that watching her mother interact so caringly with families informed her career choice to become a medical doctor.
Now Bougher is a second-year medical student at George Washington University’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), an education that has been supported by the Jeanne G. Holzgrefe, M.D. ’96, and Glenn D. Westley Endowed Scholarship Fund. Established in 2016, the scholarship aims to attract and retain high-achieving students to SMHS.
Donations that help students like Bougher realize their goal of making an impact on the world are raised on Giving Day, this year from noon April 4 until noon April 5. On Giving Day, the GW community comes together to support the schools, departments, programs and organizations they care about most.
Daniel J. Burgner, the executive director of annual giving at GW, said the purpose of Giving Day is to create a sense of pride through philanthropy at the university.
“One of the best parts about Giving Day is that people can choose any area of the university to donate. We want our community to be excited to give to an area of the university they are passionate about,” Burgner said. “People can give to their college or department, a research initiative, a student organization, an athletic team, scholarships and more, with many opportunities throughout the day to amplify the impact of their gift. Everyone can follow their philanthropic interest and find a home for their gift at GW.”
He said that during Giving Day, every donor is celebrated, no matter the size of the gift because a donation of any amount helps make a difference in the lives of GW students.
Bougher said that people who selflessly donate to scholarship funds like the one that has helped her through her first two years of medical school make a significant impact on students.
“One of the big worries among med students is the amount of debt we’ll have once we leave school,” Bougher said. “That weighs heavily on a lot of people. Knowing the scholarship I have can help chip away at that debt is really reassuring.”
For last year’s Giving Day, nearly 2,500 donors gave $1.6 million. Giving Day 2023 will focus on growing the number of GW community members who participate to 2,750 donors. Every gift makes a difference—with more than half of last year’s donations coming in below $100. Success, Burgner said, relies on the number of community members who join together to make a difference.
Donors will be able to see in real-time how the collective community effort is impacting students and faculty on the Giving Day website, which will feature heat maps, leaderboards and progress trackers. The GW community can also celebrate Giving Day during an on-campus event in Kogan Plaza from noon to 3 p.m. April 4, featuring food, music, photo opportunities and more.
As Bougher thinks about the kind of doctor she wants to become (she currently is considering radiology or dermatology), she often reflects back to after-school visits to her mother’s office. That experience, she said, helped her understand there are many barriers people can face while attempting to get important, life-saving health-care treatment. That’s why no matter her choice of specialty, she knows she will be an advocate for health equity.
“There are so many factors that prevent people from getting health care,” she said. “Maybe there isn’t a specialist in their town, maybe there’s a language barrier, or maybe they can’t get time off work. Many people go untreated or undiagnosed for something that can easily be [diagnosed] by a doctor, and that shouldn’t be the case.”
As Bougher gets closer to achieving her career goals, she said she’s grateful for the help she’s received that’s set her on this path. She credits her family and the scholarship for helping her make her way forward.
“Having this scholarship is really reassuring,” Bougher said. “Having that support is really important. It can propel anyone into achieving what they want to do.”
Giving Day is an annual philanthropic celebration highlighting various programs across GW including student scholarship and financial aid. Learn more about how GW is expanding access to the transformative power of a GW education through scholarships and fellowships. Open Doors: The Centuries Initiative for Scholarships & Fellowships charts a course to expand opportunity for the next generation of leaders at GW.
