On Friday, October 14, WCA Group Health Trust announced Melissa Natzke as recipient of the 2011 Primary Care Physician Scholarship.

Natzke is a third-year medical student at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UWSMPH). She is a native of Tigerton, Wisconsin, a rural community in northeastern Wisconsin, where she shares the town “had just one doctor for many years. She saw just about everyone in town, including everyone in my family, from my siblings to my great-grandmother.”

It was this experience combined with a six-week family medicine externship that solidified her desire to become a family physician in a rural area of Wisconsin. Natzke also shares that she hopes to practice a similar type of family and patient-oriented medicine, noting the pride and sense of identity a community feels from having their own doctor and clinic.

Before entering medical school, Natzke earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree and a Master of Public Health degree from UWSMPH. She is currently a registered pharmacist and a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association and Phi Delta Chi Professional Fraternity.

This $5,000 scholarship was funded by the WCA Group Health Trust, with the specific goal of increasing the number of medical students going into primary care, as well as staying in Wisconsin to practice following graduation. The scholarship was open to third and fourth year medical students at both UWSMPH and the Medical College of Wisconsin. It was presented in collaboration with the WHA Foundation, Inc. and the Wisconsin Council on Medical Education and Workforce (WCMEW).