ALFA Presents Scholarship to UA Rural Medical Scholar

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Terry James of Arley was recently awarded the first Alabama Farmers Federation (ALFA) Rural Medical Scholars Program Scholarship. James is a participant in The University of Alabama Rural Medical Scholars Program and is currently attending the UA School of Medicine in Birmingham.

James, son of Wendell and Deborah James, earned his B.S. degree in chemistry at the University of North Alabama in 2001 before becoming a Rural Medical Scholar. At UNA, he played football and was active in the Student Government Association and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

An annual gift from ALFA has been used to create the sponsored scholarship for a deserving student enrolled in the Rural Medical Scholars Program, a cooperative effort between UA and the UA School of Medicine. The ALFA Rural Medical Scholar receives scholarship support for a year of special study at UA and four years of medical school. The recipient of the ALFA Rural Medical Scholars Program Scholarship agrees to practice medicine in a rural community for five years.

“This partnership between ALFA and The University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences (the Tuscaloosa branch of the UA School of Medicine) is an outstanding example of the support that the farming community in Alabama has committed to the future of health care in rural Alabama,” Dr. John Brandon, medical director of the UA Rural Medical Scholars Program, said. “For the foreseeable future, the Rural Medical Scholars Program will be the focus of attracting local physicians to provide ‘down-home’ medical care for farmers and their families. Terry James is an excellent recipient of this first ALFA scholarship and is dedicated to practicing primary care in his home area of rural Alabama.”