Medical Student Secures Two National Scholarships

Jelyn Cruz Eustaquio was one of 35 winners nationwide of a 2021 Tylenol Future Care Scholarship and one of 11 winners nationwide of a Financial Residency scholarship.

Eustaquio is a native of the Philippines, who immigrated to the United States and settled in Woodside, Queens, New York.

“I am so proud of Jelyn. Her intelligence, drive and dedication embodies the spirit of what we strive to create every day at the Jacobs School — students and trainees who are passionate about caring for and improving the human condition,” says Allison Brashear, MD, UB’s vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School.

The Offices of Medical Education notified Eustaquio about the Tylenol scholarship, which awarded $10,000 to 10 students and $5,000 to 25 students. Eustaquio was one of the 10 winners of $10,000.

Tylenol said its “award decision is based on the following criteria: academic excellence, exemplary leadership, community involvement and dedication to a career in helping others. It is one of the most prestigious scholarships in the nation.”

Financial Residency is a website and podcast that offers free financial guidance to medical students and physicians through its “12 Pillars of Personal Finance.”

It was created by financial planner Ryan Inman, who is married to a physician and who has helped hundreds of doctors with their finances through his firm, Physician Wealth Services.

Financial Residency partnered with an anonymous foundation to give away $5,000 each to 11 students in the fall of 2021.

Eustaquio says she learned of the scholarship through the website’s podcast. Applicants had to be currently attending an accredited medical school and were required to send in their academic transcript and a personal essay.

“I would recommend the podcast to anyone who wants to learn how to navigate your financial situation. It is especially catered to physicians and physicians in training,” she says. “They talk about debt management, investments, buying a home — basically a ‘residency program’ about finances.”

“I’m really humbled to have received both scholarships because I never imagined I would,” she says.

In her personal essays for the scholarship applications, Eustaquio detailed her reasons for wanting to become a critical care physician.

“As a future physician, my goal is to find real interventions and tangible solutions to ease a patient’s pain using medicine in both clinical and research settings,” Eustaquio says.

She notes her passion for addiction medicine stems from her experiences growing up in a densely populated town in the Philippines.

“At an early age, I saw how poverty affected the lives of many. In addition to severely sparse health care and disease that ravaged the communities, substance abuse was prevalent and afflicted many,” Eustaquio says. “Growing up, I saw how it destroyed many lives in my community.”

“My hope is to improve patient care for those who are in need of chronic pain management and ultimately to prevent drug-related deaths and injuries due to substance abuse,” she adds. “I am very passionate about health equity in medicine. My goal is to explore factors such as ethnicity and income and how they are related to incidence of substance abuse.”

“My wish is to have the chance to do more in service of those who are sick and vulnerable.”

As to why she chose the Jacobs School for her medical training, Eustaquio says when she first visited for her interview “I met so many people who were genuinely happy with what they do and I knew this is where I wanted to be.”

“I feel very privileged and excited to be part of this prestigious institution. Every day, I am amazed by everyone’s passion in their respective fields and their dedication in serving our community,” she adds. “To me, this shows they are excellent at what they do, and more importantly, they care about the wellbeing of humanity.”

“I chose the Jacobs School because I felt that it will give me the best opportunities to serve and have the learning environment that I need to become the physician I hope to be.“