The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has received a $1 million gift from the Ethel Brickey Hicks Charitable Corp. to create the Ethel Brickey Hicks Endowed Scholarship in its College of Medicine.
Dr. Susan Smyth, executive vice chancellor of UAMS and dean of the college, said in a news release that such scholarships are needed to attract the best students and produce the best physicians to serve rural Arkansas communities, where they are most needed.
The College of Medicine Scholarship Committee will determine the number of scholarships and amounts awarded each year, with preference given to medical students who pledge to practice in medically underserved communities.
The corporation was formed to grant and administer loans funded by the trust fund of the late Ethel Brickey Hicks of Knox County, Tennessee. The loan program became the Hicks Rural Scholarship program. For each year the graduate who received a loan spends in qualifying rural practice, up to $19,000 of their loan per year becomes a scholarship that doesn’t have to be repaid.
Over the years, approximately 95% of participating graduates have practiced in qualifying rural Arkansas, program officials said in the release.
In addition, the corporation awards a $10,000 Ethel Brickey Hicks Merit Scholarship each year. That scholarship goes to the senior UAMS medical student who earns the most votes from their classmates.
The Ethel Brickey Hicks trust has awarded more than $1.7 million to UAMS medical students over the past 27 years.
Sign up for Daily E-news
