Scholarship recipients are required to practice in underserved areas of Alabama after graduation for a period of three years.The University of Alabama at Birmingham has received a $3.6 million pledge from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama. The donation will support scholarships for students in the UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine, School of Nursing and School of Dentistry.
These scholarships serve to improve access to quality, affordable health care for all Alabamians and further address health disparities, particularly in rural areas of the state. Scholarship recipients are required to practice in medically underserved areas of Alabama after graduation for a period of three years.
The UAB Heersink School of Medicine will receive $1.5 million of the pledge to support medical students pursuing specialties in family medicine, internal medicine or pediatrics. In the state of Alabama, 62 of 67 counties have primary care physician shortages. These awards will provide vital access to medical care for Alabama residents in health care shortage areas.
To help address maternal health disparities and nursing shortages, the UAB School of Nursing will receive $1.1 million that will go toward its nurse-midwifery pathway. Reestablished in 2022, the program is the only nurse-midwifery pathway offered in the state, and one of only a few offered in the Southeastern United States.
The program helps address health care and workforce needs in the state, specifically increasing the number of nurse-midwives in Alabama to improve perinatal outcomes. Students are equipped to manage the obstetrical and gynecological care that make up the reproductive health of women, as well as the care of their infants in the first days of their lives.
Rural areas often struggle to attract dentists, and the number of dentists in rural Alabama is shrinking. There is at least one county in the state without a single dentist.
To help address dentistry shortages in the state, the UAB School of Dentistry will receive $1 million that will go toward tuition for dental students. The scholarship program complements the school’s Rural Dental Scholars program, which aims to incentivize and reward graduates going into underserved and rural areas.
Blue Cross started its medical scholarship program in 2016 and was renewed and expanded for 2024. To date, 145 students have been awarded Blue Cross scholarships and 29 have graduated and are now practicing in rural areas across Alabama.