Three MSU graduates named Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship recipients

Contact: Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Three Mississippi State graduates recently learned they will receive $30,000 per year to attend medical school as part of the prestigious Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program.

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

Scholars selected from MSU include (by hometown):

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and MSU graduate Jordan White wear face masks while holding a $30,000 check from the Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program.
Jordan White, right, with Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, left (Photo submitted)

DE KALB—Jordan B. White, who earned a bachelor’s in psychology in spring 2021.

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and MSU graduate Emilio Luna-Suarez wear face masks while holding a $30,000 check from the Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program.
Emilio Luna-Suarez, right, with Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, left (Photo submitted)

PHILADELPHIA—Emilio M. Luna-Suarez, who earned a bachelor’s in kinesiology/clinical exercise physiology from MSU-Meridian in spring 2018.

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and MSU graduate Emily Davis Bain wear face masks while holding a $30,000 check from the Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program.
Emily Davis Bain, right, with Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, left (Photo submitted)

RIPLEY—Emily M. Davis Bain, who earned a bachelor’s in chemistry in spring 2021.

In addition to undergraduate academic enrichment and support, MRPSP provides clinical experience and mentoring from practicing rural 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 school, 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. 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 $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, visit www.umc.edu/mrpsp or contact Steven Carter, MRPSP associate director, at 601-815-9022 or jscarter@umc.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.