Cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 42F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph..
Cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 42F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph.
Updated: October 22, 2025 @ 8:47 pm

LECOM and Corning Inc. launch scholarship aimed at combating rural healthcare shortages
ELMIRA, N.Y. (WENY) ā€” LECOM Elmira and Corning Incorporated have partnered to provide scholarships to incoming medical students in order to address the growing demand of rural medicine.
In an effort to tackle an incoming healthcare shortage, LECOM and Corning are aiming to assist two future doctors yearly with a new scholarship. This comes at a time where healthcare in the Southern Tier is need of a boost.
LECOM students along with local lawmakers, business leaders, and guests were present for the unveiling of the The Future Foundations Health Scholarship. The financial award will cover $50,000 in tuition yearly for two students committed to addressing shortages in rural healthcare.
Rural healthcare faces many challenges, including staffing, adequate funding and resources, and providing opportunities to aspiring medical students. LECOM and Corningā€™s new effort to combat the looming shortage of care, is a full-ride scholarship covering four years of medical education.
ā€œWe’ve been working on this for several years, but the fact that we could have a fully paid scholarship for students to come here with a commitment then to practice after, it’s transformational and given the current climate of the federal government, with the grad-plus loans not being available, this will give disadvantaged students more of an opportunity to get a medical education, and come here and then practice here,ā€ remarked Dr. Richard A. Terry, Dean of LECOM Elmira.
The Future Foundations Health Scholarship specifically targets two students with a vision of serving rural and underserved communities. A focus on primary care specialties like family medicine and pediatrics will help provide these communities with vital healthcare services in times of need.
ā€œthis scholarship means that students will now have barrier-free access to medical education, which is a wonderful thing in this nation. It also means that our community now has a pathway to receive highly trained, highly qualified physicians and primary care doctors to help stem that tide of shortages in our community,ā€ added Dr. Millicent Ruffin, Division Vice President of Corning Community Impact.
Encouraging students to stay local after their schooling remains a priority but not a requirement. By providing educational opportunities close to home, LECOM and Corning hope that several students continue to serve the communities they hail from.
ā€œAs a Corning native I knew I wanted to come back to the area and not only go to school here but also practice medicine here in the future. And so I feel like I’ve gotten a lot out of being a local to the community and so I kind of want to give back to the community as best as I can,ā€ said Vincent Ruffin, a second-year student at LECOM Elmira.
The timeline for scholarship applications are in-line with enrollment — open through May of next year.
LECOM hopes that the $50,000 yearly scholarship will incentivize students to provide care for underserved regions after earning their education in a more rural community.
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