Opportunity
CHPAA Scholarship
The CHPAA Scholarship is an annual award for students preparing for health careers in the United States and in Cambodia.[1] Recipients show active community service and volunteer work and a strong drive for academic excellence.[1][2]
Sponsorship
The scholarship is given by the Cambodian Health Professionals Association of America (CHPAA), a nonprofit based in Long Beach, California.[1][3] In the United States, CHPAA works on health disparities through community outreach, health fairs, mentoring and scholarships.[1] In 2017, California State Senator Ricardo Lara credited the scholarship program with building a pipeline of health professionals in the United States and Cambodia.[4]
Award and support
In 2026 the program offered seven CHPAA awards: five of $500 each for students in Cambodia and two of $1,000 each for students in the United States.[1] CHPAA also gives the separate Dara Thong Memorial Scholarship, one award of $1,000 for a student in the United States, through the same application.[1] The memorial award honors Dara Thong, a CHPAA member and volunteer who worked on fundraising and on the gala committee from the association's first gala. It gives strong weight to community service and volunteer work.[1]
The number of awards has changed over the years. In 2022 there were three awards for Cambodia and two for the United States; in 2023 there were five for Cambodia and two for the United States.[5][6] In both years CHPAA also gave the Linath Lim, MD Memorial Scholarship of $2,000, funded by Enterprise Bank and Trust and open only to low- and middle-income residents of Los Angeles County. It honored Dr. Linath Lim, an internal medicine hospitalist who died of complications of COVID-19 in early 2021 while caring for patients with the disease.[5][6]
Eligibility
In the United States, the award is open to undergraduate pre-health students: pre-medical, pre-dental, pre-pharmacy, pre-nursing or nursing, and allied health. In Cambodia, it is open to students of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing and allied health.[1] The selection panel weighs volunteer work with community services, nongovernmental organizations and health care organizations, along with academic achievement.[1] Close relatives of CHPAA board members may not apply, and past CHPAA scholarship recipients may not apply again.[1]
Application
Applicants submit a completed application form, school transcripts, a curriculum vitae and a 500-word essay about themselves, their personal and career goals, and how they plan to contribute to their communities. An essay written or enhanced by artificial intelligence software disqualifies the application.[1] The 2026 application closed on September 20, 2026.[1][3] Earlier deadlines were October 23, 2022, and October 29, 2023, and applications were submitted online through the CHPAA website.[5][6]
Recipients
- 2014 to 2016: Richard Kong, Sunny Liu, Christa Ky, Yi Chang, Steyroth Loa, Michelle Su and Nancy Tran[4]
- 2017: Kenneth Phin (health care administration, California State University, Long Beach), Marylin Try (kinesiology, California State University, Long Beach) and Sebastian Chhit (biological sciences, Long Beach City College)[4]
- Roun Daro, a third-year medical student at the University of Puthisastra in Cambodia[7]
See also
- Cambodian Health Professionals Association of America
- Dara Thong Memorial Scholarship
- All scholarships
- All opportunities
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Cambodian Health Professionals Association of America, Scholarships
- ↑ Cambodian Health Professionals Association of America, What we do
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cambodian Health Professionals Association of America, home page
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 CHPAA, 8th Annual Fundraising Gala program book (2017)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cambodian Health Professionals Association of America, 2022 News & Events
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Cambodian Health Professionals Association of America, 2023 News & Events
- ↑ University of Puthisastra, UP Voice vol. 78