A dozen high school students from north Alabama participated in summer programs at the College of Community Health Sciences to learn about the need rural communities have for more doctors, dentists, and other healthcare professionals.

Through the Rural Health Scholars Program, Rural Dental Health Scholars Program, and Medical Opportunities and Outreach in Rural Education Scholars Program, 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.

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The Rural Health Leaders Pipeline was created to address the shortage of primary-care physicians in rural Alabama. The nationally recognized 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.

The Rural Health Scholars Program provides opportunities for rising high school seniors to pursue careers in medicine. Students take college courses, participate in seminars with practicing healthcare professionals, and visit healthcare facilities.

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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. Students take college courses, participate in community engagement projects, and seminars about health care topics, and visit healthcare facilities.

The Medical Opportunities and Outreach in Rural Education (MOORE) Scholars Program is for high school seniors who plan to enter college in the next academic year. Students take college courses, participate in seminars, shadow physicians and other healthcare professionals, and visit healthcare facilities.

Rural Health Scholars:

• Lauren Barnett, Morgan County
• Kendal Davis, Morgan County
• Avery Hice, Cullman County
• Andrew Hopper, Etowah County
• Amari Long, Colbert County
• Emily Lynn, Jackson County
• Kendall Phillips, Jackson County
• Marcy Strange, Etowah County
• William Streetman, Marion County

Rural Dental Health Scholars:

• Hudson Hutcheson, Franklin County
• Jackquelyn Zepeda, Blount County

MOORE Scholars:

• Omar Baltazar, DeKalb County

Courtesy of the University of Alabama

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