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Taylor Whitson, a 10th grader at Elizabethton High School, is a Delegate to the Congress of Future Medical Leaders to be held June 26 – June 28, just outside Boston, on the University of Massachusetts Lowell campus.

The Congress is an honors-only program for high school students who want to become physicians or go into medical research fields. The purpose of this event is to honor, inspire, motivate and direct the top students in the country interested in these careers, to stay true to their dream and, after the event, to provide a path, plan and resources to help them reach their goal.

Taylor’s nomination was signed by Dr. Mario Capecchi, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine and the Science Director of the National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists to represent Elizabethton High School based on her academic achievement, leadership potential and determination to serve humanity in the field of medicine.

Taylor, 16, said she had had a passion for medicine for several years. “I have always wanted to do something with children and help others. I have decided to become a pediatric surgeon,” Taylor shared.

In addition to school activities, Taylor is a dancer and an assistant dance teacher at Watts Dance Studio. “I have danced since I was five, and now get to share what I have learned with the smaller kids I teach dance to. I became an assistant dance teacher my freshman year of high school,” she said.

Taylor is a member of Zion Baptist Church and is a part of the youth group, and goes with the group to sing at other churches and events.

She is a member of the HOSA Leadership Board at Elizabethton High and will compete in a HOSA competition for the medical knowledge board in Chattanooga. She has also been invited to attend the NSLC at Duke University to learn about becoming a surgeon and more about her chosen medical path. She will stay in the dorm for nine days while attending the conference.

Taylor had also been accepted to go to Carson-Newman University nursing camp for five days.

As a member of the Elizabethton High HOSA Leadership Board, Taylor will participate in a HOSA competition for the medical knowledge bowl, which will be held in Chattanooga.

As a delegate to the Congress of Future Medical Leaders, Taylor will join students from across the country and hear Nobel Laureates and National Medal of Science recipients discuss leading medical research; be given advice from Ivy League and top medical school deans on what to expect in medical school; witness stories told by patients who are living medical miracles; be inspired by fellow teen medical science prodigies; and learn about cutting-edge advances and the future in medicine and medical technology.

“This is a crucial time in America when we need more doctors and medical scientists who are even better prepared for a future that is changing exponentially. Focused, bright and determined students like Taylor Whitson are our future and she deserves all the mentoring and guidance we can give her,” offered academy officials. 

The Academy offers free services and programs to students who want to become physicians or go into medical science. Some of the services and programs the Academy offers are online social networks through which future doctors and medical scientists can communicate; opportunities for students to be guided and mentored by physicians and medical students; and communications for parents and students on college acceptance and finances, skills acquisition, internships, career guidance and much more. The National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Scientists was founded on the belief that they must identify prospective medical talent at the earliest possible age and help these students acquire the necessary experience and skills to take them to the doorstep of this vital career.

Based in Washington, D.C. and with offices in Boston, Mass., the Academy was chartered as a nonpartisan, taxpaying institution to help address this crisis by working to identify, encourage and mentor students who wish to devote their lives to the service of humanity as physicians and medical scientists.