Texas A&M proposes K–12 rural medicine outreach and free med camp for Bay City ISD students

Carol Rue, assistant director of rural school district relations at Texas A&M, briefed the Bay City ISD board on a K–12 rural medicine outreach program the university is offering to rural districts. Rue said the program—funded in part through state legislative support—has three parts: rotating medical students through rural clinics and hospitals; building rural residency programs and undergraduate outreach; and K–12 enrichment designed to steer local students toward health careers.

Rue said the district can bring students to a multiday med camp at Texas A&M’s College Station campus in June (district to provide transportation and chaperones; the university provides camp instruction, hotel and meals). She also described a regional one-day med camp in Kingsville and classroom Zoom sessions in which medical students and public-health students speak with Bay City students about pathways to medical careers. "I am honored to build a partnership with Bay City ISD and represent Texas A and Apology Medicine here with you tonight," Rue said, noting the program aims to expose students to rural practice and to increase rural provider retention.

The program offers curricular enrichment, virtual sessions, and counselor-facing supports aimed at preparing students to be competitive applicants to health-care-related undergraduate and professional programs. Bay City staff said health‑science teachers have expressed interest and will work with the university to schedule campus‑appropriate sessions; staff named Allison Porter as an internal contact coordinating the effort. The district and Texas A&M agreed to continue planning to align med-camp scheduling with the district’s health science CTE sequence and college‑and‑career pathways.