Elizabeth Snyder, M.D., never ran into a financial emergency while attending KU School of Medicine-Wichita. But she did find herself short on funds while attending Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, as an undergraduate. As Snyder recalls, she needed a calculator she couldn’t afford for classwork, and a teacher helped her access a student emergency fund to buy it.

Now the 2013 graduate of KU School of Medicine-Wichita has established an emergency fund for its students. Her monthly donation is being matched by her husband, Shawn’s, employer, Raytheon.

“I didn’t need cash when I was in medical school but certainly a lot of people don’t have a reliable car, or (have) this or that problem,” she said.

Snyder said she began donating to the medical school about a year ago and the idea of a student emergency fund emerged through conversations with the KU Endowment office.

After graduating from KU Wichita, Snyder, a Lawrence native, completed her residency in internal medicine at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She then spent about four years in Hays as a hospitalist providing primary care before deciding she was ready for a different kind of challenge. She considered applying to a nonprofit organization or an agency of the federal government before hitting on the idea of practicing in a Native American community. 

“I also love the Southwest, right?” she said.

She now works as an internal medicine specialist at San Carlos Apache Healthcare on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in southeastern Arizona. The 1.8-million-acre reservation has about 15,000 residents, with high levels of poverty and unemployment.

Until 2015, the hospital had been under the federal Indian Health Service agency. Today, it is operated by a tribal corporation “dedicated … to making much-needed improvements for our community’s health,” according to its website. Its five-building campus near the community of Peridot houses more than 225,000 square feet of space and is an accredited Critical Access Hospital. The tribal corporation has been on a building boom, adding a second 33,400-square-foot health facility in Bylas, Arizona, — another reservation community — and a long-term care center next to the hospital in Peridot.

Snyder said she was attracted to the post by the medical center’s commitment to public health. Tribal organizations that have assumed responsibility for health care “generally do very well,” Snyder said. “It has worked out. They have a lot of funding through grants and the federal government.”
That’s not to downplay the reality of living conditions on the reservation, where many residents lack reliable electrical power and modern plumbing and water supply facilities. Medical issues range from high rates of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever — often deadly and spread by the reservation’s numerous dogs — and chronic diseases such as diabetes.

“They have so many social problems that it’s hard to make medical progress,” Snyder said. “But I feel good giving these people the experience that people in rural Kansas are used to — having a family doctor that’s there for years and knows them.”

Snyder hopes an emergency fund can make life a little easier for students attending KU Wichita, too.
 Brad Rukes, senior development director for the school, said conversations about how the fund will work are still taking place but the process will likely closely resemble one used by the University of Kansas’ main campus in Lawrence. That fund is intended for students experiencing an “unexpected, specific and documented expense.” School bills and living expenses aren’t generally considered as qualifying, but homelessness, food insecurity, a medical bill or car repair charge could.

Snyder hopes others will be encouraged to donate to the fund as well, thinking “here’s an easy way to directly support students.”

“If you’re able to make medical school a little less stressful, that’s good for them.”


How to help

If you are interested in supporting this fund or starting your own, contact Rukes at brukes@kuendowment.org or 316-293-2641.