Contact: Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Eight Mississippi State University students will receive $30,000 per year to attend medical school as part of the prestigious Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program.

MRPSP scholarships are awarded after the students complete the pre-matriculation portion of the program, created in 2007 by the Mississippi Legislature. Awards are based on available funding.

The new scholars represent MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences and its departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Psychology; the Bagley College of Engineering and its Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering; and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and its Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology.

They include (by hometown):

BELZONI—Kimberly K. Thomas, a junior biological sciences/pre-medicine major.

DEKALB—Jordan B. White, a junior psychology major.

HOLLY SPRINGS—Jamie K. Bowen, a senior biological sciences/pre-medicine major.

MADISON—Torrye R. Evans II, a senior biological sciences/pre-medicine major.

OKOLONA—William T. Simpson, a senior biological sciences major. He also holds an MSU bachelor’s degree in business information systems.

PICAYUNE—Jessie V. Besanson, a junior biochemistry/pre-medicine major.

RAYMOND—Holly R. Welch, a junior biomedical engineering major.

RIPLEY—Emily M. Davis, a junior chemistry/pre-medicine major.

“As I’ve said many times, a Mississippi State education can take you anywhere you want to go, and an increasing number of our graduates are choosing medical school to continue their education and to pursue their professional aspirations,” said MSU President Mark E. Keenum.

“Their success is a credit to our outstanding faculty and academic programs, and the many research and service opportunities we offer undergraduates,” he said.

In addition to undergraduate academic enrichment and support, MRPSP provides clinical experience and mentoring from practicing physicians. Students who complete all medical school requirements can be admitted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center or William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Upon completion of medical training, MRPSP scholars enter a residency program in one of five primary care specialties: family medicine, general internal medicine, medicine-pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, or pediatrics. Four years of service in a clinic-based practice in a program-approved, rural Mississippi community also is required.

Consistent legislative support of MRPSP translates to 61 medical students receiving a total of more than $1.8 million to support their education this fall.

MSU’s Dr. A. Randle and Marilyn W. White Health Professions Resource Center guides MSU students in any academic major who aspire to gain entry into a health professional school. Located in Harned Hall, Room 116, the office is named for the Greenwood nephrologist and his wife whose support helped make it a reality in 2016. Learn more at www.prehealth.msstate.edu.

For more information on MRPSP, visit https://www.umc.edu/mrpsp or contact Dan Coleman, associate director, at 601-815-9022 or jdcoleman@umc.edu.