East Tennessee State University’s Quillen College of Medicine announced a new program designed to create more pathways for high school and college students who are interested in careers in medicine to serve rural and underserved communities. The college officially launched EQUIP (Extending Quillen to the Underserved through an Integrated Program), an initiative that seeks to identify and mentor students to become primary care physicians committed to rural and underserved medicine.
The program includes a four-week summer experience, the Appalachian Preceptorship, for rising junior and senior college students, including one week spent on Quillen’s campus. During that week, students will have the opportunity to learn in Quillen’s classrooms, train in the simulation labs and experience the state-of-the-art anatomy lab. The remaining three weeks of the summer program will take place in the community, working alongside a physician and developing a community engagement project.
Who is Eligible?
Students in their junior or senior year of high school and college students prior to the second semester of their sophomore year of college who want to become primary care physicians and have spent formative years in a rural or underserved area and have a desire to return to those areas to practice medicine. The student must be from a rural area in one of the designated counties of Tennessee, Virginia, or North Carolina.
Eligible Virginia counties include:
- Lee
- Scott
- Wise
- Dickenson
- Russell
- Washington
There is no cost to be a part of EQUIP, nor to attend any EQUIP-sponsored activities. Space is limited to 20 high school students and 15 college students at each year level. Applications are now open. Apply at: http://etsu.edu/equip
Southwest Virginia Graduate Medical Education Consortium 