Staff at Newman Regional Health are stepping up to enhance education for a new crop of prospective health professionals.
Staffers have donated $10,000 for Emporia State University’s Pre-Medical Fellowship program. They have also pledged another $19,000 to be gifted over the next five years.
Former Newman Regional Health Medical Staff Chair Dr. Alana Longwell (UH-LAWN-UH) says the fellowship helps to tackle a major issue which can often be a roadblock for students in any field of study, student debt. Longwell says when you factor in the cost of medical school education the total number can come out to several hundred thousand dollars in debt.
Longwell says the fellowship helps provide students with an opportunity they otherwise would not have.
The fellowship program was founded in 2017 as a number of ESU medical alums wanted to recruit incoming freshmen and also support them on the way to medical school. It provides a $10,000 financial award which is broken down to $2,500 per year for four years. Two students at ESU, Kynzie Underwood and Peyton Kitchens, were awarded the fellowship last year. Amaya Svendblad was awarded the fellowship last month.
Applicants must be incoming freshmen, be graduates of a Kansas high school and declare their intent to follow the pre-medical track in preparation for medical school.
