Two fourth year medical students who are participants in the West Virginia Family Medicine Rural Scholars Program were recently presented with $10,000 awards courtesy of the University Healthcare Foundation.
Madison Humerick and Ryan Miller, who were admitted to the program last year, are shown receiving their checks from George D. Harris, MD, MS, Chair, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine-Eastern Division.
Humerick is from Jefferson County and will graduate from the WVU School of Medicine in May. Miller is from Martinsburg and will graduate in May from the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.
Developed in 2004, the Rural Scholars Program offers qualified students a unique opportunity to experience Family Medicine from a new and personalized perspective. The program goal is to identify students early in the medical school curriculum who are committed to a continuum of training that will enhance their ability to practice Family Medicine in rural West Virginia.
Selection of scholars occurs in the third year of medical school and allows for a more intensive Family Medicine experience in the fourth year. Following graduation from a West Virginia Medical School, scholars in the Eastern Panhandle move directly into the Family Medicine Residency Program at Harpers Ferry where they pursue an enhanced three-year curriculum.
“This residency training focuses on developing clinical, management and leadership skills that will best prepare the scholar for a successful rural/small town practice,” stated Dr. Harris. The program is designed to reward medical students with proven ability and a strong desire to practice Family Medicine in a rural setting.
The University Healthcare Foundation, formerly the Jefferson Health Care Foundation and City Hospital Foundation, has been supporting the Rural Scholar Program in the Eastern Panhandle for the past several years by sponsoring up to two rural scholars per year. The WVU Foundation in Morgantown also provides funding for one rural scholar per year.
