TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Applications are currently being accepted for rural medical programs at The University of Alabama, and deadlines are soon approaching.

Several programs are offered by the UA College of Community Health Sciences to students from rural backgrounds who wish to study and practice medicine. The programs’ dates and deadlines include:

Rural Health Scholars Program will be held June 1-July 3. The deadline for applications is March 1. RHSP is open to rural students completing 11th grade in May. Applicants should send a high school transcript; ACT, SAT, or PSAT scores; two letters of recommendation; and a statement about why he or she wants to attend. Selections for the 2003 Rural Health Scholars class will be made by May 1. For an application, contact school counselors or Cynthia Moore, director, at cemoore@cchs.ua.edu.

A companion program -- the UA Rural Science Scholars Program (conducted by the UA department of biological sciences) -- will be held July 6-Aug. 9. Applications are due March 14. Students who have just completed 11th grade are also eligible for this program. Contact school counselors or Dr. Martha Powell, director, at mpowell@biology.as.ua.edu for applications. Students may attend both.

Minority Rural Health Pipeline Program will be held June 1-July 18. Applications are due by March 15. Students will learn academic skills for college work next year and life style adjustments that to aid incoming college students in managing the responsibilities of a college student. Most importantly, students will start to develop test-taking abilities designed to enhance their prospects for becoming a competitive applicant to medical school. Each MRHPP class member will receive a $1,400 stipend for the summer. In addition, all tuition, room and meals for participants will be paid by the program. Participants will be responsible only for their transportation to UA and living expenses over and above room and meals.

To be eligible for the program you must be an Alabama resident and live in a rural area. You must also be a relatively recent high school graduate with a B average or better, and be planning to attend a college or university. Participants will be selected on the basis of their expressed interest in health sciences, their motivation and aptitude for pursuing a health profession, and their record of academic performance, including college entrance test scores. For more information or an application form, see website http://bama.ua.edu/~ruralmed/.

Rural Medical Scholars is a program offered during the 2003-2004 academic year (beginning August, 2003). The applications deadline is March 19. College seniors or graduate students from rural areas may apply for this medical education program which includes admission to the University o Alabama School of Medicine after a year of special study at the UA College of Community Health Sciences. Eligible applicants will be invited to interviews with the RMSP Admissions Committee (practicing rural physicians and Tuscaloosa and Birmingham medical school faculty members) on June 19 and will be notified that night if they are accepted into the program. Forms are at http://bama.ua.edu/~ruralmed/ or contact Irene Wallace, RMSP, at 205/348-5892 or iwallace@cchs.ua.edu.

Following the legislature’s study of rural health care needs in Alabama, the UA College of Community Health Sciences (CCHS) was established in 1972 under the mandate of the executive and legislative branches of the state government. The mission assigned to CCHS included operation of a family practice residency program, provision of clinical training for undergraduate medical students, and collaboration with other schools and colleges to produce programs that speak to non-medical aspects of health care. Developed along these lines, CCHS has responded to health care needs of rural Alabama through a variety of projects, especially the rural scholars programs that seek and nurture rural students who want to become rural physicians or other primary care practitioners.