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I am very excited to report that we will be hosting the next class of Rural Medical Scholars from The College of Community Health Sciences here in Collinsville on Wednesday February 22nd!  I was a rural medical scholar of the graduating class of 2004.  The first scholars of our Tuscaloosa program graduated in 2000.  This it the 21st class of scholars that will be coming to Collinsville!!  The students will be touring my farm and clinic and watching a presentation on how to run a solo practice in a small rural town.  We have a high school student who will be introduced to the program and will hopefully become involved because she too wants to go to medical school. Med applications are accompanied by a mini-multiple interview as part of their admission process. Many of the questions would find solutions during the tour.

A rural medical scholar is a student who has been accepted into medical school the year before they matriculate (start classes).  They will go through rural health classes that teach them about rural issues that one faces as rural physicians.  A rural medical scholar does not have to go into rural medicine but the hope is that by being exposed to rural medicine through the program the student will end up as a family physician in a rural area in Alabama.  Many of our scholars have gone on to practice in small towns in Alabama.  That is how Collinsville got an MD over nine years ago!!  I found a beautiful piece of land and an empty clinic nearby!

In the future we hope to host a medical student in their third year of medical school as they go through their rotations and follow patients for nine months of their health care journey.  This new method of teaching medical students has come to the Tuscaloosa Family Medicine Program.

We will be posting several pictures of the event and any stories we can tell!!

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