High School Rural Scholars Program helps local students pursue healthcare careers
Former ULTC student finds his niche
High School Rural Scholars Program helps local students pursue healthcare careers
Former ULTC student finds his niche
Madisonville, KY. (January 20, 2017): When Alex Brown participated in the University of Louisville Trover Campus’ High School Rural Scholars (HSRS) program, he was about to become a senior in high school at Muhlenberg North, and knew he wanted to have a health career.
In fact, he had become fascinated with the field of medicine when he was just 9 years old. When he learned of the HSRS program through his high school, he was eager to apply. “While I already knew I wanted a health career, I was unsure which field of medicine would be a good fit for me. I had interest in several different areas: pediatrics, orthopedics, otolaryngology, physical therapy, etc. The HSRS program allowed me to shadow various medical professions and scope out what my true interests were,” said Brown.
“I discovered that I preferred a career with a large amount of individual patient interaction and the program also helped me to rule out what was not a good fit for me,” added Brown. He wanted to explore health careers even further after the 3 week long program, so Brown immediately sought out more opportunities to shadow and was given the opportunity to shadow Margo Ashby with Baptist Health Madisonville's pharmacy. It was then that he discovered his niche— he wanted to become a pharmacist.
The HSRS program’s ACT test preparations also helped Brown raise his score by 6 points which in turn gave him better opportunities for schooling. Looking back to those days, Brown offers this advice to future High School Rural Scholars: “Take full advantage of the shadowing opportunities that this High School Rural Scholar program provides because that’s what jump started my career!”
Brown is now well on his way to achieving his dreams. He worked as a pharmacy tech at Rite Aid for 2 years and then was an intern for 3 more. He and his wife, Jessica Anderson-Brown, MSN, WHNP-BC (a women’s health nurse practitioner at Baptist Health Powderly and Poole’s Pharmacy in Greenville) currently reside in his hometown in Muhlenberg County. With just two rotations to complete at Baptist Health Madisonville, he is looking forward to graduating this Spring from the University of Kentucky School of Pharmacy. He also just accepted a position with Poole’s Pharmacy once he graduates and passes his board exams.
The U of L Trover Campus staff and Associate Dean, Dr. Bill Crump, are proud of Alex Brown and wish him many years of success. “Alex is a perfect example of our reason for being here,” said Dr. Crump, “The best way to get medical folks to small towns is to get students from those small towns involved early.”
“The ULTC programs are tailored to bring an awareness of the need for more medical workers in our rural communities and we offer our students excellent training with a staff and small group of medical students who work together like a close-knit family. We believe being a pharmacist truly is a great fit for Alex Brown. He said it best on his HSRS application when he speculated just “how rewarding it would be to dedicate your life to improving the quality of life of others.”” added Crump.
This year’s HSRS program runs from June 6 through June 22. Applicants must be a high school senior in the upcoming 2017-2018 school year, have a minimum ACT score of 21, be serious about a medical career and attend school in one of the participating counties: Hopkins, Caldwell, Webster, Muhlenberg, or McLean.
The HSRS program is supported by Baptist Health Madisonville, University of Louisville Trover Campus, West AHEC, Felix E. Martin Jr. Foundation and the McLean County Board of Health. For further details or to apply contact Jana Clark at 270-824-3490.