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Sponsor RMSS

Rural Medical & Science Scholars is a 4-week summer program for rising high school seniors, to help them determine if they want to pursue health-related careers. The program shapes students’ interest and understanding of medicine, health-related disciplines, and other STEM fields.

The Scholars shadow physicians, dentists, and other healthcare professionals, and they complete 1 month of health science college coursework and engage in didactic, observational, and experiential learning for 6 hours of college credit. Courses include Introduction to Health Professions and Applied Public Health Sciences: From Cells to Communities. Scholars also visit the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Not only do the Scholars make new friends with similar interests and goals, but they also get a taste of college life by living on the Mississippi State University campus.

Please support the Rural Medical & Science Scholars program. Whether you choose to sponsor an individual scholar or the program itself, a variety of opportunities are available for you to demonstrate your commitment to keeping future healthcare and other STEM professionals in Mississippi.

To give to the Rural Medical & Science Scholars program, please contact Mr. Will Staggers at (662) 325-2837.

Remember, every gift makes a difference.

2020 Sponsorship Opportunities

Sponsor a Scholar: $2,400

Funds tuition, housing, textbooks, orientation materials, and training curricula.

Scholars in Clinical Shadowing: $1,500

Provides transportation for lunch, clinical shadowing, and the visit to the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Celebration of Scholars Dinner/Dinner with a Healthcare Professional: $1,500

Funds a formal dinner for scholars and healthcare professionals to promote networking and relationship-building opportunities.

Scholars in Engineering: $300

Funds supplies to engage scholars in health-, science-, and engineering- related careers.

Scholars in the Lab: $300

Funds supplies to teach suturing skills at the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine.

Scholars in Research: $300

Funds supplies to engage scholars in STEM-based research opportunities.

Scholars in the Kitchen: $300

Funds supplies to teach best practices for incorporating functional foods in diets.

Junior Master Wellness Volunteer Training: $500

Funds supplies and curricula to train scholars to promote health as Junior Master Wellness Volunteers, aiming to improve health literacy and encourage healthy lifestyle choices. Scholars earn community service hours.

2020 Sponsorship Levels

All donors will be recognized at the program’s Celebration of Scholars. Every sponsor will also be listed on the webpage. Size and placement of logos will be determined by the donation level.

Legacy Sponsor: $25,000

  • Opportunities to network and continue relationship with scholars
  • Two highlights on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
  • Logo included in parent/student packet
  • Logo on sponsor slideshow
  • Logo on event T-shirt
  • Logo on program banner
  • Appreciation-video mention
  • Opportunity to present a session to scholars (if desired)
  • Invitation to Celebration of Scholars

Platinum Sponsor: $10,000

  • Opportunities to network and continue relationship with scholars
  • One highlight on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
  • Logo included in parent/student packet
  • Logo on sponsor slideshow
  • Appreciation-video mention
  • Invitation to Celebration of Scholars

Gold Sponsor: $5,000

  • Logo included in parent/student packet
  • Appreciation-video mention
  • Invitation to Celebration of Scholars

Silver Sponsor: $2,500

  • Appreciation-video inclusion

Bronze Sponsor: $1,000

 

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Publications

Publication Number: M1917
Publication Number: M0980
Publication Number: P2298

News

A group photo of the Rural Medical and Science Scholars Class of 2022.
Filed Under: Food and Health, Rural Health March 8, 2023

MISSISSIPPI STATE, Miss. -- High school juniors can explore health and science careers and get a jump on college during the Rural Medical and Science Scholars program this summer at Mississippi State University. The June 10-29 program is now accepting applications until April 1.

Filed Under: Food and Health, Health, Rural Health September 20, 2022

A Mississippi State University Extension Service specialist was recently reelected to the National Board of Public Health Examiners board of directors. Initially elected in 2020, David Buys, Extension health specialist and associate professor in the MSU Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion, will now serve a second two-year term.

A man stands on crutches in silhouette against a background of farm equipment.
Filed Under: Food and Health, Health, The PROMISE Initiative, Prescription Opioid Misuse, Mental Health First Aid, Farm Stress, Rural Health August 16, 2022

RAYMOND, Miss. -- The rollout of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline offers more hope to individuals dealing with mental-health-related distress. That population includes farmers and farm workers, who are among those most at risk for suicide and mental health distress.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, male agricultural workers have the fourth highest suicide rate among men in all industries. 

Man on a farm holding a baseball cap.
Filed Under: Farming, Farm Safety, The PROMISE Initiative, Farm Stress, Rural Health June 3, 2022

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- For Nathan Casburn, the land that has been in his family since the early 1900s is now more than simply his workplace.

The Tallahatchie County farm is a place of healing from an opioid addiction that began with pain medication prescribed after he was in a car accident during high school.

Casburn explained in a miniseries titled “On the Farm” that one of the biggest hurdles in his recovery was “saying I can’t do this on my own, and I need help with this.”

Filed Under: Rural Health, Water, Mississippi Well Owner Network, Rural Water Association, Water Quality April 21, 2022

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service is promoting a free water sampling campaign in seven Mississippi Delta counties.

Water samples will be analyzed for coliform bacteria and metals. Any Mississippi resident with a private well is eligible to participate. Test kits and detailed sampling instructions will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Participants can pick up sampling bottles April 26 to May 10 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the following MSU Extension county offices:

Success Stories

A young man, wearing glasses and a red shirt, standing outside and looking over the horizon.
Food and Health, Rural Health
Volume 8 Number 2

When Carey Williams decides he’s going to do something, he relies on patience, work ethic, and tenacity to find a way to get it done.

A man gazes off to the left as the sun sets behind him and two cows look at him from the opposite side of the fence he is leaning on.
Agriculture, Health, The PROMISE Initiative, Rural Health
Volume 8 Number 1

Extension destigmatizes mental health issues, one conversation at a time

When Colby Hardin first started working at the Arkansas Department of Corrections dairy farm, he prepared as if going to war.

 

A young woman wearing safety goggles and a blue lab coat working in a lab.
Food and Health, Rural Health
Volume 7 Number 2

Rural Medical & Science Scholars program provides insight, courage for careers

Zoe Fokakis is on her way to realizing her dream of becoming a physician scientist. That dream was partly fueled by her participation in the Rural Medical & Science Scholars program.

A smiling man wearing a blue checkered shirt.
Rural Development, Food and Health, Food, Rural Health
Volume 3 Number 1

Extension food pantry serves rural community 

On Tuesdays and Thursdays before lunch, Robert Jamison is usually exercising with people who have been his neighbors in Lambert for 30 years. The Quitman County Veterans Service Officer also volunteers for a food pantry there that serves about 800 local families every other month. The county does not have a grocery store, but the pantry, since it opened in 2014, has helped people in need.

A man in blue scrubs with crossed arms leans against a wall.
Rural Health
Volume 1 Number 2

Extension medical program offers career insights

He delayed his journey to become a doctor, but Johnny Lippincott has been intrigued by the field since childhood.

Watch

Wynton Sims RMS Alum Testimony
Extension Stories

Wynton Sims RMS Alum Testimony

Wednesday, February 21, 2018 - 4:30pm
Meri Hollis West RMS Alum Testimony
Extension Stories

Meri Hollis West RMS Alum Testimony

Wednesday, February 21, 2018 - 4:30pm
Catherine Feng RMS Alum Testimony
Extension Stories

Catherine Feng RMS Alum Testimony

Wednesday, February 21, 2018 - 4:30pm
Emily Davis RMS Alum Testimony
Extension Stories

Emily Davis RMS Alum Testimony

Wednesday, February 21, 2018 - 2:45pm

Listen

Wednesday, December 11, 2019 - 7:00am
Wednesday, March 6, 2019 - 7:00am

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Portrait of Ms. Ann Sansing
Extension Instructor
Rural Medical Scholars Program Director/Community Health Coordinator