WSMA Foundation Announces Recipient of Inaugural Medical School Scholarship
Seattle (July 8, 2026) – Today, the WSMA Foundation for Health Care Improvement, the philanthropic arm of the Washington State Medical Association, is announcing the first recipient of its WSMA Future Physician Scholarship, a four-year scholarship awarded to a student attending the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.
Isabela Lydston, from Fall City, Washington, has been selected as the scholarship’s first recipient. She was chosen through a competitive process; her application demonstrated a significant financial need and demonstrated resilience in overcoming hardship to pursue medical school. A first-generation medical student, Isabela demonstrated a commitment to remain in Washington state to practice medicine.
“The WSMA Foundation is thrilled to announce Isabela as our first Future Physician Scholarship recipient,” says WSMA Foundation President Bindu Nayak, MD. “Isabela’s story is remarkable. Isabela has witnessed firsthand the challenges in our health care system through her time as a volunteer health scholar at a local medical center. We are honored to support her journey and excited to see the impact she will have on patients and communities in our state.”
Isabela’s interest in medicine was originally inspired by her mother, a physician assistant in emergency medicine. As a health scholar volunteer at a local medical center, she was often the only Spanish speaker on the floor and frequently stepped in to translate between patients and staff. Through this experience, she realized that language and representation can be powerful instruments in advancing more equitable and trusting care.
Isabela went on to earn her certified nursing assistant license and work in a skilled nursing facility before she decided to further improve her understanding of the health care system by pursuing a graduate degree in public health. During her studies, she developed a passion for exploring health outcomes through the lens of the social and structural contexts that shape them and launched a research project examining how environmental stressors, such as financial burden, predict mental health symptom burden in health care workers.
Said Isabela in her application, “Trained in both clinical care and public health, I am committed to practicing medicine that meets patients where they are, addresses the barriers they face, and treats them as whole people embedded in communities that matter. That is the physician I am working to become.”
The Future Physician Scholarship is funded by the WSMA Foundation’s Scholarship and Diversity Advancement Endowment, launched in 2023. After reaching its initial fundraising goal of $1.5 million, the WSMA Foundation board voted to award its first Future Physician Scholarship in the amount of $40,000 annually for four years to a member of the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine class of 2030. Ultimately, the endowment seeks to fund a four-year scholarship at all three Washington state medical schools.
In addition to providing financial support, the Foundation seeks to create a network of mentorship, professional development, and community for future physicians.
“Because of the extraordinary generosity of physicians and supporters across Washington state, we have made an investment in the future of health care in our state. By supporting students like Isabela, we are helping remove barriers to medical education and building a physician workforce that better reflects and serves Washington’s communities,” said Dr. Nayak.
To learn more about the Future Physician Scholarship and to donate, visit foundation.wsma.org/donate-scholarship/.
For more information contact:
Graham Short
WSMA Director of Communications
gfs@wsma.org / 206.329.6851 cell/text
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About the Washington State Medical Association
The WSMA represents more than 13,500 physicians, resident physicians, physician assistants, and medical students across all specialties and practice types in Washington state. The WSMA has advocated on behalf of the house of medicine for more than 135 years. Our vision is to make Washington state the best place to practice medicine and receive care.