For more than three decades, the College of Community Health Sciences has prepared students to bring healthcare to rural communities, where it is most needed.
This fall, CCHS Rural Programs welcomed its 31st class of Rural Medical Scholars and fourth class of Rural Dental Scholars, continuing the College’s commitment to develop future physicians and dentists who will serve rural Alabama. The Rural Medical Scholars Program and the Rural Dental Scholars Program are part of the College’s Rural Health Leaders Pipeline.
The pipeline was created to address the shortage of primary care physicians and dentists in Alabama’s rural communities.
“These students have already shown they are bright, ambitious and dedicated to serving rural Alabama as primary care physicians and dentists,” said Dr. Meghan Rivera, assistant director of CCHS Rural Programs. “We know they will do great things.”
The Rural Medical Scholars Program is a five-year medical education program exclusively for rural Alabama students who want to become physicians and practice in rural communities. The program includes a year of study, after students receive their undergraduate degree, that leads to a master’s degree in Rural Community Health and early admission to the UAB Heersink School of Medicine.
Rural Medical Scholars spend their first two years of medical school at the Heersink School of Medicine’s main campus in Birmingham and return to CCHS, a regional campus of the Heersink School of Medicine, for their final two years of medical school (the clinical education years).
The current Rural Medical Scholars class includes Jake Dueland of Cullman County; Chloe Cater of Calhoun County; Rebecca Chancey of Houston County, John Harrell of Walker County; Jake Hays of Colbert County; Zachary Love of St. Clair County; Tevin Pauley of Colbert County; and Christy Xie of Chilton County.
The Rural Dental Scholars Program is exclusively for students from rural Alabama and provides a separate admissions pathway to the UAB School of Dentistry. The program includes a year of study and a master’s degree in Rural Community Health, after students receive their undergraduate degree, and early admission to the UAB School of Dentistry.
During the year of study at CCHS, students take biomedical science courses designed to prepare them for a rigorous dental school curriculum. They also participate in seminar courses in rural health and community engagement experiences, and they shadow dental providers.
The class includes Kirby Payton of Cleburne County; Lynn Pham of Marengo County, Trenton Roden of Colbert County; and Jack Stoudenmire of Clarke County.
CCHS also welcomed Abbi Calhoun of Chilton County, Erica Doss of Covington County and Nia Jones of Etowah County as Rural Community Health Scholars. Calhoun is completing her second year of the program, which is for rural Alabama college graduates interested in health professions. Scholars complete a year of studies alongside the Rural Medical Scholars and, like the Rural Medical Scholars and Rural Dental Scholars, receive a master’s degree in Rural Community Health.