Perrigo awarded Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship for medical training at the William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine
BOONEVILLE, Miss. -- (09/19/2023) — Kristen Grace Perrigo, a Booneville native and first-year medical student, was recently awarded the Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship at the annual scholarship ceremony in Jackson for her medical training at the William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Perrigo is the daughter of Rocky and Felesha Perrigo. Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program Commission Member Emeritus Dr. Lucius Lampton presented the scholarship.
During her time in Booneville, Perrigo was a member of the Lady Tiger softball team and helped Northeast obtain a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-Academic Team designation for the softball squad. Perrigo was named to the second team of the NJCAA All-Academic teams as an individual as well during her time in the City of Hospitality.
Created in 2007, the Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program (MRPSP) is designed to provide more primary care physicians in rural areas of Mississippi. During medical school, each MRPSP scholar receives $35,000 per year based on available funding. Consistent legislative support of the MRPSP translates to 62 medical students receiving a total of $2,170,000 to support their education this fall. In addition to legislative support, three privately funded scholarships are also awarded this year from the Madison Charitable Foundation, the Selby and Richard McRae Foundation, and the Medical Assurance Company of Mississippi. Other benefits include personalized mentoring from practicing rural physicians and academic support.
Upon completion of medical school, MRPSP scholars must enter a residency program in one of six primary care specialties: family medicine, general internal medicine, pediatrics, medicine-pediatrics, psychiatry, or obstetrics/gynecology. The MRPSP Scholar must provide four years of service in a clinic-based practice in an approved Mississippi community of 15,000 or fewer population located more than 20 miles from a medically served area.
MRPSP provides a means for rural Mississippi students to earn a seat in medical school and to earn a $140,000 medical school scholarship in return for four years of service and learn the art of healing from practicing rural physicians.
For more information, contact MRPSP Associate Director Steven Carter at 601-815-9022, jscarter@umc.edu or www.umc.edu/mrpsp.
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The Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program and the Mississippi Rural Dentists Scholarship Program were formed in an effort to increase the number of physicians and dentists serving the healthcare needs of Mississippians in rural areas. Housed at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, and collaborating with its schools of medicine and dentistry and the College of Osteopathic Medicine at William Carey University in Hattiesburg, the programs use various outreach, mentoring and training methods to identify, support, educate and deploy new generations of health-care workers for Mississippi's underserved populations. To learn more about either program, click here.
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For more information about Northeast Mississippi Community College, visit http://www.nemcc.edu.
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