The 27th annual Mississippi Rural Health Conference 2022 took place at the Hilton in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, November 17, 2022. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today 
Medical students visit booths during the 27th annual Mississippi Rural Health Conference 2022 at the Hilton in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, November 17, 2022. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today 
Wahnee Sherman, executive director of the Mississippi Rural Physicals and Dentist Scholarship Programs, gives students who a part of the scholarship program a rundown of the 27th annual Mississippi Rural Health Conference 2022 at the Hilton in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, November 17, 2022. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today 
Sara Friloux, an Ole Miss medical student from Tupelo, presents a needs assessment for her hometown during the 27th annual Mississippi Rural Health Conference 2022 at the Hilton in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, November 17, 2022. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today 
Mississippi Rural Physicals and Dentist Scholarship Program students community present their professional needs assessments of their hometowns during the 27th annual Mississippi Rural Health Conference 2022 at the Hilton in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, November 17, 2022. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today 
Program guides are in place during the 27th annual Mississippi Rural Health Conference 2022 annual business lunch meeting at the Hilton in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, November 17, 2022. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today 
Selena McCord, community program manager for the National Rural Health Resource Center, gives a presentation on utilizing a holistic approach to improve rural health care in the Mississippi Delta during the 27th annual Mississippi Rural Health Conference 2022 at the Hilton in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, November 17, 2022. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today 
Yolanda Pruitt, program panager with AIM for CHangE in the Department of Food Science, Nutrition, and Health Promotion at Mississippi State University, gives a presentation on resource roundtables and the effectiveness on rural food pantries with limited resources during the 27th annual Mississippi Rural Health Conference 2022 at the Hilton in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, November 17, 2022. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today 
Health professionals and medical students attend the annual business lunch meeting during the 27th annual Mississippi Rural Health Conference 2022 at the Hilton in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, November 17, 2022. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today 
Health professionals and medical students attend the annual business lunch meeting during the 27th annual Mississippi Rural Health Conference 2022 at the Hilton in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, November 17, 2022. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today 
Ryan Kelly, executive director of the Mississippi Rural Health Association, speaks at the annual business lunch meeting during the 27th annual Mississippi Rural Health Conference 2022 at the Hilton in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, November 17, 2022. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today 
Sen. Ben Suber, R-Bruce, is presented with state legislator of the year award during the 27th annual Mississippi Rural Health Conference 2022 annual business lunch meeting at the Hilton in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, November 17, 2022. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today 
Jerry Keever, outgoing president of the Mississippi Rural Health Association, gives a speech during the 27th annual Mississippi Rural Health Conference 2022 annual business lunch meeting at the Hilton in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, November 17, 2022. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today
Health professionals and medical students gathered at the Hilton in Jackson to attend the first day of the 27th annual Mississippi Rural Health Conference 2022 on Nov. 17.
The first day of the two-day event included sessions with topics such as strategies for marketing and improving communication with hospitals and utilizing holistic approaches to improve rural health care in the Delta.
“I am attending the conference because I really believe that this is an important part of our health care system,” Dr. Loretta Jackson-Williams, professor of emergency medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said. “With so many of our patients being in rural areas and the number of rural hospitals that are experiencing financial difficulties, this event highlights those issues even more. I think highlighting opportunities and joys of living in smaller communities is really important.”
Recipients of the Mississippi Rural Physicians Scholarship Program from colleges around the state were also in attendance to present needs assessment posters of their hometowns.
“The job of a rural physician is to take into account what a community needs and go from there,” Will Sutton, a junior biology student at the University of Southern Mississippi, said. “If you want work in these communities, make relationships and help people, you have to know where you are going. So this helps us understand where we are from, so we can use that in future if we go back to work in our hometowns.”
Several awards were giving out during the event’s annual business meeting and lunch. U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who was not in attendance, was awarded with the national legislator of the year award, and Sen. Ben Suber, R-Bruce, was awarded as the state legislator of the year.
The event wrapped around noon the following day with plenary sessions on the organization Mississippi Thrive!, foreign medical graduates in medically underserved areas in the state, hot topics in health care and networking breaks between sessions.
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