Youths Get A Jumpstart on Rural Healthcare At UA
Nine High school students from rural West Alabama joined 29 others from across the state at The University of Alabama this summer in a five week program exploring rural healthcare careers.
There is a severe shortage of healthcare workers across West Alabama and the rural Black Belt. The region struggles with an aging, sicker population, high poverty rates, and a critically low provider-to-patient ratio. The need for primary care doctors, nurses, dentists and emergency medical personnel is at a crisis level.
The College of Community Health Sciences is attempting attract high shool students into the healthcare profession through its summer programs, where they learned about the need in rural communities.
Through the Rural Health Scholars, Rural Dental Health Scholars and the Medical Opportunities and Outreach in Rural Education Scholars programs, all part of CCHS’s "Rural Health Leaders Pipeline", the students spent five weeks on the UA campus taking college courses for credit, shadowing physicians and learning how to prepare to enter health professions education and training.
The Rural Health Scholars Program provides opportunities for rising high school seniors to pursue careers in medicine. West Alabama participants included:
- Makenzy Davis, Pickens County
- Madison Hall, Marengo County
- Lily Hildreth, Lamar County
- Ella Maynard-Price, Fayette County
- Jill Moss, Pickens County, and
- Freya Spencer, Pickens County
The Rural Dental Health Scholars Program is for students between their junior and senior years of high school who have an interest in practicing rural dentistry. West Alabama participants were:
- Maggie Crawford, Perry County, and
- Daniya Davidson, Marengo County
The Medical Opportunities and Outreach in Rural Education Scholars Program (MOORE), is for high school seniors who plan to enter college in the next academic year. West Alabama's participant was:
- Tyeisha Jones, Marengo County
“Their experiences have provided them with a preview of what to expect when they enroll in a four-year college or university,” Cynthia Moore, assistant director for Rural Programs with CCHS stated in a press release. “This group has demonstrated dedication, maturity and a genuine commitment to exploring future careers.”
The nationally recognized "Rural Health Leaders Pipeline" includes a sequence of programs from high school through medical school that recruits students from rural Alabama who are interested in healthcare careers and working as healthcare professionals in rural communities.
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