The West Virginia Area Health Education Centers are pleased to announce that applications are now open for the Rural Community Health Scholars program.
WV AHEC Rural Community Health Scholars is a two-year program available to 75 of West Virginia’s top health professions students interested in rural health care across the state.
Two-thirds of our Scholars cohorts over the past few years have been WVU students, and as a result, we are eager to welcome our next group of WVU health professionals.
RCH Scholars focuses on interprofessional education through clinical, didactic and community-based lenses and emphasizes how each Scholar can create change and reshape the status quo for health care in his/ her/their community.
Throughout this program, Scholars will engage in clinical, didactic and community-based activities in rural and underserved areas of WV to refine their skill sets and positively impact the lives of West Virginians.
As a Scholar, students will:
Become leaders in their professions and communities
Receive supplemental training and education from experts in rural healthcare
Develop an astute understanding of how to best implement health care services in rural or underserved areas
Learn how to work as part of an interprofessional team
Provide meaningful patient care in the field and gain hands-on experience
Receive a participation award of $1,300 upon program completion
Health professions students in the following areas are eligible to apply: Dentistry, dental hygiene, health informatics and information management, medicine (osteopathic, family, OBGYN, etc.), nurse practitioner, nursing, nursing Ph.D., nutrition/dietetics, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy, physician assistant, public/population health programs and more. Contact us if you do not see your discipline listed – you may still be eligible to participate.
Interested applicants should have an interest in rural health, a minimum 3.0 GPA and at least two years remaining in his/her/their degree program; the new class of accepted Scholars will begin this two year program on Nov. 1 and complete it in June 2023.
Application deadline is Oct. 1.
Find more information about the RCH Scholars or contact the RCH Scholars Program Manager at RCH_Scholars@hsc.wvu.edu.