Local Students Commit To Rural Health Through CSC

CHADRON – Three Sidney students are among 33 Nebraska high school students selected for the Rural Health Opportunities Program (RHOP) at Chadron State College (CSC). The list includes 26 participants and seven alternates in nine fields.

According to Director of Health Professions Kristal Kuhnel, CSC and University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), potential participants are identified through an application and interview process, which shows those students who have an understanding of the rigorous path ahead and are committed to returning to rural Nebraska to practice in healthcare once they graduate.

Students selected as participants in the program take pre-professional training at CSC with guaranteed pre-admittance to one of the UNMC sites, if they meet the program’s standards. Dental students will take advanced training at Lincoln, nursing students at Scottsbluff, dental hygiene at Gering and the others in Omaha. Often, the alternates become primary participants before their training at CSC is completed, Kuhnel said.

“Since starting in this position three years ago, I have spent each September canvassing Nebraska in partnership with CSC’s enthusiastic admissions representatives searching for the best and brightest students interested in a career in health care,” Kuhl said. “This year, especially, we can see the fruits of that labor as we had an outstanding pool of applications from which to select.”

Sidney students chosen to participate are Colton Peckham in dentistry and Emma Alexander in pharmacy. Mitchell Rolls was also chosen, as an alternate in the physical therapy program.