Laney, Scott selected to participate in rural medical scholars program

New Albany High School students Emma Laney and Maggie Scott have been selected to the Rural Medical and Science Scholars Program at Mississippi State University. Laney and Scott are both being sponsored through scholarship funding provided by CREATE and the Toyota Wellspring Education Fund.

The Rural Medical and Science Scholars program helps rising high school seniors determine if they want to pursue health-related careers and shapes students’ interest and understanding of medicine, health-related disciplines, and other STEM fields. This intense summer program aims to ensure a strong and passionate workforce for the long-term goals of improving Mississippi’s economy and increasing access to healthcare.

This summer, the program structure will include a 4-week summer online/virtually delivered program by Mississippi State University. Scholars will take two college-level courses (Introduction to Health Professions and Applied Public Health Sciences), thus earning 6 college credits. This summer’s participants will have the opportunity to learn about the Coronavirus Pandemic that has engulfed our nation. Robust lectures accompanied with engaging workshops in a virtual setting allows the participants to explore public health and its connection to a career in health or science. Scholars will experience many levels of health and science from afar and enjoy the social networking opportunities allowing them the opportunity to make lifelong friends with similar interests.

This summer, the Rural Medical and Science Scholars program will again be offered with support from the Mississippi State University Extension Service, MSU’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, MSU’s Office of the Provost, and the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care. The program ran from 1998 to 2007, was not offered in 2008 or 2009 due to lack of funding, but was reinstated and has been held annually since 2010.