The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences recently welcomed the 2024 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 interested in working as future doctors and other health care professionals in rural communities.
“We are excited to welcome our 12 new rural pre-med interns as they look to interact with our CCHS faculty and staff to learn more about the needs of our rural communities in the state,” said LaKeshia Whigham, coordinator for CCHS Rural Programs. “We hope the clinical exposure here at the College, intertwined with community experiences, will strengthen their desire to practice rural medicine.”
Students spend five weeks at CCHS and two weeks with a family medicine physician near their hometown. They completed the internship program July 1.
To be eligible for the internship, 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 Bureau of Health Workforce.
The 2024 TRPI class includes:
- Augusta Arnold of Greensboro
- De’Von Benjamin of Selma
- Valencia Bryant of Selma
- Alex Davis of Wilsonville
- Harrison Dial of Satsuma
- Erica Doss of Andalusia
- Nia Jones of Gadsden
- Salil Kumar of Muscle Shoals
- Matthew Merritt of Bridgeport
- Caroline Ricks of Clanton
- Alijyanah Sanders of Enterprise
- Madilyn Webb of Ozark
