Jenny Knickerbocker
News Reporter

A new program about to start at Mesa State will provide students with enhanced advising and better chances of getting accepted into the medical, dental, or pharmaceutical industries. The new Western Colorado Rural Health Scholars program will accept 30 students for the 2010-2011 school year.
The original program, developed at Colorado University medical school by faculty members, is expected to increase student applications to graduate school as well as increase the acceptance rate. This is a very competitive program and will start for the first time in the fall of 2010, with 20 sophomores and juniors, and 10 freshmen. In the future, the plan is to raise the number of freshmen in the program.
“I am really loving my time at med school and I think Mesa State really prepared me for everything. I want to be able to give students opportunities to build their application process,” said Sarah Dodd, M.D., University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and coordinator of the program.
Dodd will be at MSC to hold an informational meeting at 5 p.m. on Feb. 22. The location for the meeting is still to be determined.
MSC will provide housing for students who are enrolled in the program for summer testing as well as local curriculum that will allow students to shadow experts in the field they are interested in; students will be required to shadow health care professionals. They are also required to volunteer in the community. This will give the students hands-on experience and more opportunities to get involved.
GPA requirements and the number of volunteer hours a student needs to be accepted into the program are still undecided. However, there will be a $100 application fee to help fund the program.
Applications are available from Dodd or Dr. Forbes Davidson, the pre-health advisor and professor of biology.
u
jknicker@mesastate.edu