Three Mississippi College Students Awarded Rural Physicians Scholarships

Mississippi College students Kayla Ryan of Picayune, Brandon Evans of Brandon and Allee Paxton of Inverness.

Scholarships of $30,000 per-year will open doors for three members of Mississippi College’s Class of 2021 to pursue studies in the medical field.

Selected for the Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship program in July are: MC juniors Brandon Evans of Brandon, Kayla Ryan of Picayune and Allee Paxton of Inverness.

A future pediatrician, Evans says, “It allows me to interact with kids along with their families. And it allows me to see the growth they exhibit throughout their life.”

The scholarship program, he said, is critical to building the supply of rural physicians, who play such a vital role in Mississippi, Evans noted. “Small town doctors have such a large impact on the community around them.”

Evans, 20, is an East Rankin Academy graduate. The son of Chuck and Anna Evans of Brandon, he’s wanted to be a physician since he was a young boy.

Getting the scholarship, Evans said, is a blessing. “It has shown me that no goal is too far as long as you put your heart into achieving it.”

Ryan is the daughter of Paula Meyer and Marty Ryan of Picayune. Last Fall, Kayla Ryan served as a student trainer with the MC Choctaws football team. She served with classmates Hannah Davidson of Gulfport and Zach Odom of Utica.

A 2017 Indianola Academy graduate, Paxton is the daughter of Lee and Mericlare Paxton of Inverness. In September 2018, the Sunflower County resident said she found the right college to attend. “I like the atmosphere,” she said during a break between classes. “It’s not huge.”

Supported by the Mississippi Legislature since 2007, the scholarship program helps college students achieve their dreams of becoming rural primary care physicians. The students can earn a $120,000 medical school scholarship over four years. In return, they devote four years to serving patients in rural areas of the Magnolia State.

There will be 61 medical students receiving a total of $1,830,000 to support their education in Mississippi this Fall, reports show.

Upon completion of all medical school admission requirements, scholarship recipients can enroll at the University of Mississippi medical or dental schools in Jackson or the William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Hattiesburg.

The rural physicians scholarship program is based at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

For additional information, contact Dan Coleman, the program’s associate director, at 601-815-9022 or jdcoleman@umc.edu