The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences welcomed 11 rural Alabama students to the Rural Medical Scholars Program, which is part of the College’s Rural Health Leaders Pipeline.
The pipeline was created to address the shortage of primary care physicians in Alabama’s rural communities.
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 leads to obtaining a medical degree and includes a year of study and a master’s degree in rural community health at CCHS, after students receive their undergraduate degree, as well as early admission to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine.
Rural Medical Scholars spend their first two years of medical school at the UAB Heersink School of Medicine’s main campus in Birmingham and return to CCHS for their third and fourth years of medical school, which are known as the clinical training years.
“We are excited to welcome the 29th class of Rural Medical Scholars to campus,” said Dr. Antonio Gardner, director of education and evaluation for CCHS Rural Programs. “We are thrilled to contribute to their academic and professional development before they matriculate to the UAB Heersink School of Medicine. Our hope is that they will return to rural Alabama to practice medicine and improve health access and health outcomes in those areas.”
The 2024-25 class includes Will Akin of Hanceville, Marcy Birge of Slocomb, Ally Brewer of Florence, Kailand-Ascia Brown of Rutledge, Townley Cornelius of Cullman, Lauren Hay of Clanton, Natalie Moon of Centre, Max Moussad of Russellville, Boyd Ogles of Ashland, Trey Pinkerton of Fayette, and Angela Vincent of Birmingham.
CCHS also welcomed Caroline Ricks of Clanton and Ikeyreiah Harris of Gordo as Rural Community Health Scholars. Harris is completing her final year of the Rural Community Health Scholars Program.
Like the Rural Medical Scholars Program, the Rural Community Health Scholars Program is part of the CCHS Rural Health Leaders Pipeline, a series of programs created to prepare students to become health care providers and community health leaders in rural Alabama communities. The Rural Community Health Scholars Program is for rural Alabama graduate students not enrolled in the Rural Medical Scholars Program but who are interested in health-care careers.
