In Pursuit of Precision - University of Alabama at Birmingham

Feature Stories
Reaching Rural Populations
An Innovative Program Sends Forth Its First Graduates
By Cheryl Sloan Wray
rural and medical constituency groups, the
CCHS adopted a plan to generate more interest
in rural medicine among students. “We created
the Rural Health Scholars Program to
interest rural high-school students in medical
careers, and the Rural Medical Scholars
Program to help them gain admission to medical
school,” Jackson says. The RMSP was officially
established in 1996.
The RMSP is directed by John Wheat,
M.D., professor of community medicine and
internal medicine, and is open to college seniors
and graduate students who plan to go to
medical school and practice in rural areas.
According to Wheat, only 10 students are chosen
each year to participate in the program,
making it highly selective. Admission to the
program is based on high academic achievement,
character, and leadership qualities.
Wheat says that the program actually
involves three different stages of education. For
precollege students, the Rural Health Scholars
Program conducts outreach activities at high
schools—offering summer coursework good
for college credit—as well as community-wide
events to inform students about the program.
The next stage takes place at the college level.
The third stage takes place during medical
school, as students participate in rural, family,
and community medicine clinical electives.
According to Wheat, the program will eventually
include options and support for graduates
at the residency and fellowship levels.
A FLEDGLING
CLASS IS READY TO FLY
The program’s first class graduated in May 2001
and included Angela Clifton, Anne Davis, Kevin
“Medical care can affect every facet of life in
a rural community. Local medical care is key to
the overall health of a community because people
often have no access to transportation.”
—Drake Lavender, M.D.
Drake Lavender was in the first graduating
class of the RMSP.
Growing up in the rural community of
Eutaw, Alabama, Drake Lavender held one
professional person in particularly high
regard—his family doctor. That doctor,
Rucker Staggers, provided much-needed care
to the underserved rural area and, in turn,
became a great inspiration to Lavender. “Dr.
Staggers treated my asthma and gave me my
weekly allergy shots,” Lavender remembers.
“He was and is my inspiration to do rural
family medicine.”
Lavender is just one of eight students in the
first graduating class of the Rural Medical
Scholars Program (RMSP). Operated in conjunction
with the University of Alabama’s College of
Community Health Sciences (CCHS), the program
is designed to educate and encourage students
who want to return to rural areas and provide
care for the underserved.
According to Lavender, the program has
helped make his dream of practicing rural
medicine come true.
THE RMSP TAKES ROOT
According to Linda Jackson, Rural Programs
Communications Specialist for the RMSP, the
program originated in the Alabama Legislature’s
Rural Health Task Force Report of 1989, which
motivated the CCHS to make a full review of
its rural health programs. Working with various
Accepted students are enrolled at the
University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa in the year
prior to entry into medical school. They take a
course each semester related to rural health or
the practice of primary care in rural areas; students
also participate in special seminars, community
service projects, and field trips.
Summer courses are available to each student,
including day-to-day work in a physician’s
office, “shadowing” a doctor to learn what his
or her practice is really like. Peer support
groups and mentoring are important parts of
the program. These courses count toward the
bachelor’s degree for undergraduates; graduate
students in the program earn a master’s degree in
rural health before entering medical school.
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Ellis, Tom Holt, Drake Lavender, Stephanie
Morgan, Elizabeth Smith, and Paul Tabereaux.
Stephanie Morgan says that her experiences
in the Rural Medical Scholars
Program were invaluable. A native of tiny
Cedar Bluff, Alabama (population 2,000),
Morgan knew at a young age that she wanted
to enter the medical field; she didn’t
know, though, that her interest would
evolve into primary care in rural areas. After
receiving information about the program
and talking with Wheat, her interest soon
turned to rural medicine. “Everything
seemed to just fall into place,” she remembers.
“I now plan on going back home to
work at our county hospital.”