Two Black Belt students are among a new group of scholars at the University of Alabama preparing for careers aimed at improving health care in rural communities.
Lynn Pham of Marengo County and Jack Stoudenmire of Clarke County have been selected for the University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences’ Rural Dental Scholars Program. They are part of the program’s fourth class, which began this fall.
The program is designed specifically for students from rural Alabama and provides a pathway to the UAB School of Dentistry. Its goal is to help address shortages of dentists in rural communities by preparing students who have ties to those areas for careers in health care.
Pham and Stoudenmire are two of four students in this year’s Rural Dental Scholars class. The other students are Kirby Payton of Cleburne County and Trenton Roden of Colbert County.
During the program, students spend a year studying at the College of Community Health Sciences after earning their undergraduate degrees. They earn a master’s degree in rural community health and receive early admission to the UAB School of Dentistry.
Students take biomedical science courses to prepare for dental school while also participating in rural health seminars, community engagement activities and opportunities to shadow dental providers.
The Rural Dental Scholars Program is part of the College of Community Health Sciences’ Rural Health Leaders Pipeline, which seeks to increase the number of physicians, dentists and other health professionals serving rural Alabama.
“These students have already shown they are bright, ambitious and dedicated to serving rural Alabama as primary care physicians and dentists,” Dr. Meghan Rivera, assistant director of CCHS Rural Programs, said. “We know they will do great things.”
The College of Community Health Sciences also welcomed its 31st class of Rural Medical Scholars this fall.
The Rural Medical Scholars Program is a five-year medical education program for rural Alabama students who want to become physicians and practice in rural communities.
Students complete a year of study after earning their undergraduate degree, leading to a master’s degree in rural community health and early admission to the UAB Heersink School of Medicine. They spend their first two years of medical school in Birmingham before returning to the College of Community Health Sciences in Tuscaloosa for their final two clinical years.
The 2026 Rural Medical Scholars are Chloe Cater of Calhoun County, Rebecca Chancey of Houston County, Jake Dueland of Cullman County, John Harrell of Walker County, Jake Hays and Tevi Pauley of Colbert County, Zachary Love of St. Clair County and Christy Xie of Chilton County.
Three students — Abbi Calhoun of Chilton County, Erica Doss of Covington County and Nia Jones of Etowah County — are also participating as Rural Community Health Scholars. That program is for rural Alabama college graduates interested in health professions and also leads to a master’s degree in rural community health.
For more than three decades, the College of Community Health Sciences’ Rural Programs have worked to prepare health care professionals to serve rural Alabama communities, where shortages of primary care physicians and dentists remain a focus of the college’s Rural Health Leaders Pipeline.
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