JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Dr. Sean Ochsenbein, a member of the Quillen College of Medicine Class of 2017 at East Tennessee State University, has received a national award for his dedication to emergency medicine.

Ochsenbein was honored with the Dr. Alexandra Greene Medical Student Award from the Emergency Medicine Residents' Association (EMRA) during the organization's spring meeting in Orlando.

The award recognizes a third- or fourth-year medical student who displays significant dedication to emergency medicine, going out of his way for patients and colleagues while demonstrating compassion and professionalism. The award honors the memory of Allie Greene, a fourth-year medical student at UC Davis School of Medicine whose passion for emergency medicine led her to volunteer throughout the United States and in developing countries. Greene died in a plane crash in 2007, just weeks before graduation.

“Sean shares all the best traits that made Allie Greene exceptional: dedication, compassion, a heart for service,” said EMRA President-Elect Dr. Zach Jarou, who made note of Ochsenbein's serving as an emergency medical technician for several years. “During his days with EMS, he risked his own life to save another.”

Ochsenbein was awarded the Unsung Hero Award from ETSU President Brian Noland last year for pulling a man from a burning vehicle after coming upon a crash while traveling back to Johnson City from a ski trip in February 2016.

Ochsenbein also is the former chair of the EMRA Medical Student Council and served as a student representative to the American Medical Association Medical Student Section. He begins his emergency medicine residency at Wake Forest University this summer.