Grant Helps Medical Students Do Clinical Work in Rural Areas in Mississippi

Mississippi has a healthcare problem. They have a healthcare worker problem. And the state also has a health problem with the citizens of their state. This is especially true when it comes to rural areas in the state. But even overall there are some terrifying statistics for the state. The Mississippi State Department of Health shares some grim findings. In the state of Mississippi, 70% are 70% of people are reported to be overweight, 15% have diabetes, and 82% have high blood pressure. In fact, Mississippi is at the bottom of the pack of states when it comes to almost every single health outcome. These health disparities can be worse in underrepresented or marginalized communities and in rural areas as well. Rural areas of Mississippi have some very concerning access levels.

We know from the Rural Health Information Hub report on rural health outcomes that there are gaps for rural residents. You add those two shortages together and things are really bad. Well, at least now rural areas in Mississippi may see some help, at least when it comes to the health care shortages.

Before we start talking about this story, let’s share a grant. We have listed on GrantWatch, grants for Mississippi nonprofits, agencies, and schools for projects that improve health.

Grant Award Is Helping Rural Areas in Mississippi Address Health Disparities

The first $1.9 million of a grant award of more than $7.6 million to the University of Mississippi Medical Center was awarded last July. And officials say that this grant award is actually helping a lot of people. The goal of this grant award was to help increase the number of healthcare workers in rural areas in Mississippi. This grant was awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration and agency of the U.S Department of Health and Human Services.

The goal of this grant award is to have more medical students conduct their clinical work in the rural areas. This will help to address some of the healthcare shortages within these rural areas. But it’s not even just that they are conducting clinical work in these areas. According to Dr. Sheree Melton, assistant professor of family medicine and clerkship director for the Department of Family Medicine at UMMC, more than that is happening. According to Dr. Melton many of these medical students are actually signing contracts to work in these areas after graduation.

Here’s what Dr. Melton had to say about the impact of this: “They’ve agreed to come back there and practice for a certain number of years once they’ve finished their residency training,” Melton said. “They already have a job before they graduate from medical school.”

More news like this please! I hope we can hear more stories where healthcare disparities in these areas are addressed.

GrantWatch Is so Glad to Hear About the Impact of This Grant

Hearing the news about the impact of a grant like this is so fantastic. If we can see even more of these kinds of addressing of issues, there is such an overall net benefit for all of this. There are so many areas with limited access to healthcare that programs like this could begin to help. Additionally, GrantWatch has two grant categories that may help those trying to find these kinds of grants. Firstly, we have there is a section dedicated to Health and Medical grants. Secondly, there is a section dedicated to grants to improve the Quality of Life. Either of these grant categories could contain the grant you are searching for!

If you have any questions regarding these grants, feel free to reach out! Visit the GrantWatch FAQs page to learn more about how to find grants in your area.