The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences recently welcomed the 2025 Class of the Tuscaloosa Rural Pre-Medical Internship, a summer program for college students in pre-medical studies who are interested in rural primary care.
The seven-week program allows students to learn about the health needs of rural Alabama residents, particularly in family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics. The students also gain a better understanding of the day-to-day life of family medicine doctors. In addition, the program seeks to enhance their understanding of medical school and increase their competitiveness for medical school admission.
TRPI is part of the College’s Rural Programs and its Rural Health Leaders Pipeline. The pipeline is a sequence of programs from high school through medical school that recruit students from rural Alabama who are interested in working as future doctors and other health-care professionals in rural communities.
“We are extremely excited to welcome our fourth cohort of the Tuscaloosa Rural Pre-Medical Internship to campus,” said Candace Lacey, program coordinator for CCHS Rural Programs. “We have a very diverse group this year, but they all have the same goal of one day serving the rural communities of Alabama.”
To be eligible for TRPI, students must have completed four semesters of undergraduate coursework, obtained an overall GPA of a B range or higher and scored at least 22 on the ACT or 1200 on the SAT. Only rural Alabama residents are accepted.
The internship is funded in part through a supplemental award provided by the federal Health Resources and Services Administration’s Bureau of Health Workforce.
The 2025 TRPI class:
- Tyler Croy of Fairhope
- Jaleigha Doolittle of Salem
- Cole Heatherly of Ford City
- Jason Knowles of Ohatchee
- Emma Richards of Tuscumbia
- Zamaria Richardson of Demopolis
- Emma Riseborough of Gasden
- Mary Stoltze of Troy
- Elijah Wang of Vinemont