By Shayla Terry:

Luverne High School senior Megan Hudson has completed the Rural Health Scholars Program with six college credit hours.

The Rural Health Scholars Program is conducted by the University of Alabama’s College of Community Health.

Twenty-five students from rural areas in Alabama are chosen to participate in the program. Students are chosen based on academics and interests in the medical field. Students are educated and nurtured with the hopes that once they have completed the necessary schooling, they will return to rural areas to provide health services.

Hudson says her interest in the medical field drew her to apply to RHSP.

“I want to be a nurse,” Hudson said.

“With HOSA, we go through the health sciences program. It allows us to intern at the hospital.”

Participants in the program live on the University of Alabama campus in student housing. They attend class every day, and attend seminars led by medical professionals.

“On a typical day, I stayed up until 1 or 2 a.m. studying, then woke up at 8 a.m. and went to chemistry, then creative writing, followed by lunch,” Hudson said.

“On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays we had chemistry lab from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, it was either free time or we had a seminar to attend.”

The program also took the students on medical field trips.

“We toured the University of South Alabama Medical Center,” Hudson said.

“I was able to practice intubations and CPR codes. That was super cool.”

Hudson says her time in the program helped her to realize a few things.

“I thought I wanted to be a doctor, but after the amount of chemistry I have reconsidered,” she said.

“I want to do nursing because you get more patient interaction.”

In the end, Hudson says she is happy with her decision to participate in the program.  She finished the summer with a 3.5 GPA.

“I’ve learned so much about college and life,” Hudson said.

“The biggest life lesson I learned is that you definitely have to have good people around you to get through life.”