Florida International University (FIU) Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) student Michelle Ramirez recently received the American Physical Therapy Association’s (APTA) 2010 Minority Scholarship on. Ramirez is one of only seven recipients selected from hundreds of physical therapy students nationwide to receive this honor. She is also only the second student from FIU’s PT program to receive this award in the program’s 35-year history.
The award not only recognizes Michelle for her academic achievements in the FIU DPT program (3.97 GPA), but also for her leadership in her profession as a change agent to help the medically underserved in developing countries. Since 2007, she has been volunteering on humanitarian missions to Central America with organizations such as Service for Peace and Alternative Breaks. She has helped establish health care clinics for families in the rural mountains of Nicaragua and Honduras. Most recently, this past March she traveled to Guatemala leading 20 students from Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine’s Occupational Therapy program on a 10-day volunteer mission providing rehabilitative care for the disabled and orphaned children of ANINI House, just outside Guatemala.
