TRUCKEE, Calif. — As a health sciences major, Russon, former Truckee resident and TTUSD graduate, gained a vast reservoir of experience in her time at University of California, Santa Cruz. She used her Spanish skills to work with families at the Walnut Avenue Women’s Center, sang for hospice patients, mentored children in the MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement) program, and interned with primary care physicians.The annual primary care award was established by SMSC and the Alliance in conjunction with the UC Santa Cruz Foundation to help carry out their mission to provide high quality primary care to central coast Medi-Cal patients. The award supports a graduating senior with a major in health sciences at UCSC who will be entering an accredited medical school soon after successfully completing his or her bachelor’s degree. The recipient’s medical training must result in an M.D. or D.O. degree and the recipient must intend to return to the central coast of California to practice in the area of primary care. The funds are intended to help meet the student’s requirements for fees and tuition.“We are pleased to be able to award this scholarship to Kaitlin,” said Alan McKay, executive director of the Alliance. “With her extensive background, interest in medicine, and fluency in Spanish, she will be an excellent addition to our local medical community.”Candidates are recommended by UCSC’s Department of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology to a committee comprised of representatives from SMSC, The Alliance, and the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency. There is no implied obligation or requirement that the award recipient shall be on staff at any particular organization in the area, but they will be expected to serve Medi-Cal patients.— Reprinted with permission from the Sutter Maternity andamp; Surgery Center, part of the Sutter Health network.