I'M OFTEN ASKED WHAT SUSTAINS ME most in my lifelong engagement with Harvard Medical School. I answer with a very unscientific word: Alchemy. Students--very bright students--come here full of ability, intelligence, eagerness and sometimes very little else. But inside this base metal we have recognized a nugget of gold: they show an exceptional empathy for their patients; they are intensely curious about science. We challenge them. They meet real patients and real-life disease. They stand side by side with their professors at the outer frontiers of knowledge. We help to mold their minds and their practice. We try to instill the highest standards of science and care and when they leave us eager with new abilities, they are now a different kind of human being. They are doctors. Having a role in the transformation of a young person into a physician--who could find anything more rewarding? So it has disturbed me deeply over the past decade to observe subtle shifts in the attitudes of our latest graduates. Why are they often fearful? What makes them sometimes turn away from career choices that they deeply want and are uniquely suited? The answer is debt. The Scholarship Campaign seeks to confront these issues head on. Additional financial aid endowment will have immediate impact. First, it will secure the School's commitment to lowering the unit loan. Second, it will increase the pool of available scholarship aid. The net result for our students will be reduced debt load, continued fair allocation of aid, and more freedom in career choice. The true value of the campaign addresses the very core of Harvard Medical School: to further the hope, the dream, the personal growth and transformation of young doctors--this is truly a golden opportunity. Daniel D. Federman, M.D. '53 Director of Alumni Relations, and Co-chairman, The Scholarship Campaign Alumni, make a gift to The Scholarship Campaign by clicking on this link or by calling (800) 922-1782. If you wish to discuss contributing to this very important cause, please email Brianna Lynne Heimann or call her at 617-384-8441.