John Patrick

UMass Chan

Leaving A Legacy for Future Physicians by Making a Gift that Gives Back

As a first-generation college student who paid his own way through UMass Chan Medical School, John Patrick, MD’79, is especially grateful for the outstanding and affordable medical education he received.

As a result, Dr. Patrick always wanted to give back. When he and his wife Sharon Britton, discovered that a charitable gift annuity would make it possible for them to establish a scholarship at UMass Chan and provide themselves a stream of lifetime income, they seized the opportunity.

“Particularly in times like these, when interest rates are low, a charitable gift annuity is a tremendous win-win,” Dr. Patrick said. “I can give back to my medical school and ensure a decent income for the rest of my life.”

A charitable gift annuity enabled the couple to donate their scholarship gift now to the Medical School, which then invests the funds. UMass Chan pays them a fixed amount as a regular annual income for the rest of their lives; the remainder will go directly to the scholarship.

“I don’t think I’d be in a position to make this gift if I didn’t have an education as financially reasonable as the one I received at the Medical School,” Dr. Patrick said. “I’m empathetic with students who find it to be a really heavy lift, especially after the cost of undergraduate school. If I can help someone in a small way to manage that, it makes me feel great.”

Dr. Patrick calls his time at the Medical School a truly formative experience. He compared the first two years of medical school to drinking water from a firehose, but he credits his success to the daily interactions with faculty and the close relationships he built with professors and classmates.

“In class, you could sit next to the head of the pathology department and look at tissue samples under a microscope together,” he recalled. “That was something I thought was very special.”

After graduating, Dr. Patrick completed his residency in emergency medicine at the University of Chicago. He returned to Massachusetts to practice emergency medicine at a private teaching hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School, where he also developed software that the hospital used for emergency medical records.

Dr. Patrick, who recently retired after 30 years of practice, still lives in Massachusetts with his wife. He said he is grateful that she has been so supportive of the notion of paying it forward and establishing this scholarship.

“I felt compelled to do something for my medical school and the students who are in the same Position I was,” he said. “I don’t want capable people to be limited by financial circumstances. If I can help someone have the experience I did, I will. It’s a great opportunity to pay it forward.”