Wisconsin medical students honored with 2015 Houghton Awards

MADISON— Fourth-year medical students Mark Kashton and Trista Stankowski-Drengler were named recipients of the Wisconsin Medical Society Foundation’s prestigious 2015 Houghton Award during the Wisconsin Medical Society’s Annual Meeting April 25-26 in Madison.

Kashton, a student at Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), has balanced academics with several leadership and volunteer activities. He has served as co-president of the American Medical Association (AMA)-Medical Student Section at MCW and was elected to the AMA Student Section Governing Council as a delegate. A Sacramento, California native, Kashton is heading to Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston, Massachusetts, to complete his residency in general surgery, but hopes to return to Milwaukee to continue his training with a fellowship in pediatric surgery.

Stankowski-Drengler, a student at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, has served as class co-president for the last three years and been involved in the school and community as an anatomy tutor and as a volunteer with the St. Vincent DePaul Free Clinic in Marshfield. Following her third year of medical school, she took a year-long leave of absence to conduct research at Marshfield Clinic and co-authored four papers. She plans to stay in Wisconsin to complete a general surgery residency at UW Hospitals and Clinics.

The Houghton Award was established by Drs. John H. and William J. Houghton in the 1960s to honor medical students who show promise for becoming what the brothers referred to as “complete physicians”— those who excel in their knowledge of both the scientific and socioeconomic issues related to medicine. Each year, one recipient at each of Wisconsin’s two medical schools receives the award, which includes $1,000.

John H. Houghton, MD, who was a general practitioner in Wisconsin Dells, was president of the State Medical Society of Wisconsin (now called the Wisconsin Medical Society) from 1965 to 1966. William J. Houghton, MD, who was also active in the Society, was a general surgeon in Milwaukee.

The Wisconsin Medical Society Foundation, chartered in 1955 as a charitable organization, works to advance the health of the people of Wisconsin by supporting medical and health education and statewide public health initiatives.

With more than 12,500 members dedicated to the best interests of their patients, the Wisconsin Medical Society is the largest association of medical doctors in the state and a trusted source for health policy leadership since 1841.