This scholarship is to help University of Iowa medical students experience global medicine and is named for alumnus Dr. Charles E. Pickering.
Dr. Charles (Charlie) Pickering was an Emergency Room Physician who practiced and lived in Iowa, Louisiana, California, Hawaii, Canada, and Australia. Charlie was born in Des Moines and raised in Altoona, Iowa. After completing his undergraduate bachelor studies at Iowa State University, Charlie graduated with the class of 1999 from the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. While at the UI, Charlie was awarded the Barry Freeman Fellowship, through which he spent 8 weeks in Durban, South Africa doing an internal medicine elective. Tragically in 2011, Charlie drowned in a surfing accident on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. In loving memory, through The University of Iowa Foundation, Charlie's mother, Linda Pickering, and his fiancée, Shelley Chen, created the Dr. Charles E. Pickering Memorial Scholarship Fund. The Fund grants financial support to Iowa medical students who participate in the global medicine program.
Charlie was a competitive soccer and tennis player (and was on both varsity teams during his undergraduate studies). Charlie also enjoyed surfing, golf, snowboarding, adventure/extreme sports, and was certified in scuba and skydiving. Professionally Charlie was very focused and determined, though he also knew how to balance life and believed in having fun along the entire life journey. Charlie travelled the world which led him to meet his fiancée, Shelley, from Canada. Together they shared the last decade of his life.
"Charlie lived life in the present. His belief was to live life now and live life to the fullest. He also believed that with the right amount of determination anything in life was possible. Charlie and I shared the same passions, especially our thirst for adventure and travel. Charlie’s energy and attitude towards making life fun and interesting was contagious. It is from this that I wanted to create the scholarship fund to help students fulfill experiences where they may otherwise not be able. It is my sincere wish and hope that this scholarship will do just that in Charlie's legacy," said Shelley.