A 16-year-old scholarship continues this year as the University’s highly selective pre-med and medical education program encourages qualified students to pursue careers as family doctors in rural areas in the state.

The Rural Medical Scholars Program was founded in 1996 and is directed by John Wheat, a medical doctor and professor of community medicine and internal medicine.

Wheat said the mission of the program, which is open to all undergraduate seniors and graduate students planning on attending medical school, is to produce physicians for rural Alabama who are leaders in developing healthy communities.

“Throughout RMSP, scholars are provided a professional peer group that will support them throughout their training and careers while developing the necessary skills to become community leaders,” Wheat said.

RMSP introduces scholars to aspects of medical care that are important to rural practice and to the diversity of the rural population of Alabama and also provides practice in relating to the various rural cultures, Wheat said.

Medical Director John Brandon is responsible for the recruiting process and organizing the interview dates. He said admission is based on high academic achievement, character, rural identity and leadership qualities.

“The first process is to select the kinds of students for the program who are likely to become rural family physicians,” Brandon said. “The medical school is trying to slowly increase, and this year we were granted 11 [scholars] with the anticipation of it increasing.”

To stand out above other applicants, Wheat said one must show a mature interest in becoming a rural family physician by shadowing with a rural family doctor or by serving in a rural community as another health professional.

The next step is to prepare them for the rigors of medical school and for leadership in rural communities in a year-long program in Tuscaloosa.

“These activities completed in a master’s program year prior to medical school are designed to build a peer group among the scholars that will be of support during the stressful years of medical school and to develop leadership skills and understanding of rural community life necessary for such leadership,” Wheat said.

Wheat said the scholars most enjoy the opportunities the program offers for them to explore rural Alabama and its people.

“Scholars accompany the Medical Association of the State of Alabama on its visit to Washington, D.C., to visit with our Alabama delegation as part of their health policy and leadership education,” Wheat said.

To better familiarize students with key aspects of rural communities that are not apparent in urban areas, scholars conduct activities with local farmers, such as field trips, site visits and assessment of farm environmental and worker health, as well as complete a related research project,” Wheat said. “The program also allows students the opportunity to work with rural schools, churches, community health centers, hospitals and family physicians.”

After an additional two years of study in Birmingham, Ala., for medical school, the scholars return to Tuscaloosa for their final two years.

“Scholars will get at least eight continuous weeks of training in a rural community with a family physician in which they study both patient care and the health of the total community,” Wheat said.

Andrew Richardson, director of advancement and alumni affairs, said the RMSP is an important part in the struggle to provide health care to the areas that need it most.

“Rural areas are constantly struggling to provide primary care to their residents, and fulfilling that need is the primary mission of the College of Community Health Sciences,” he said.

Richardson also said it is hard to convince medical students to pursue primary care in a rural area.

“A better alternative is to recruit students from those areas and encourage them to return after graduating from medical school. They have seen the need first-hand, and they are more likely to go home after training,” he said.

To request an application for the Rural Health Scholars Program, contact Irene Wallace in Nott Hall Room 338, by phone at (205) 348-5892 or through email at [email protected].