Kedar Patel
Kedar Patel, a fourth-year medical student at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, will receive an American Cochlear Implant Alliance Student Scholarship during the 17th International Conference on Cochlear Implants and Other Implantable Technologies (CL2024).
Patel is one of 21 post-graduate students nationwide to receive the scholarship.
As a scholarship recipient, he will receive:
- Registration to the conference
- A $120 stipend
- Student membership in the ACI Alliance
Scholarships are available for full-time students, fellows and postdoctoral scholars who have a clinical or research interest in cochlear implants, small electronic devices that can provide a sense of sound to people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
Patel credits the guidance and mentorship of Sri K. Chennupati, MD, Lehigh Valley Health Network chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgical Specialties, Section of Pediatric Otolaryngology, and Alicia Stanley, AuD, an LVHN pediatric ear, nose, and throat specialist, for driving his interest in the field and the opportunity to attend the conference.
“It feels great to receive this scholarship. I’m grateful for the faculty who have helped me find my way to this topic that I hope to build a career around as a doctor,” Patel said.
Patel hopes to spend his residency years in otolaryngology to pursue a career as a cochlear implant specialist to continue pursuing quality improvement and better access to the procedure for those who need it. He will be recognized at the international conference this summer in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.