VRHA understands that students are the rural health leaders of the future and strives to help them grow and develop in their careers. VRHA provides a variety of students development opportunities including:
- Research Poster Competition – held at the annual Rural Health Voice Conference with cash prizes
- Essay Contest – held at the annual Rural Health Voice Conference with cash prizes
- Student Representation on the VRHA Board
Student Representatives to the Board of Directors
The VRHA Student Representatives to the Board of Directors are expected to serve as a communication link between the current leaders of VRHA and the future ones. In order to meet this expectation, the students selected will need to interact with both the VRHA Board Members and students in a wide variety of health-related programs.
The students selected will help VRHA achieve its strategic goals, with particular emphasis on increasing awareness of VRHA and the benefits of VRHA membership among students. Whenever possible, the students selected will represent different academic programs/professions. This will be a non-voting position on the board. Students selected will receive complimentary registration and hotel room at the VRHA Annual Conference.
Application Criteria:
- Full-time undergraduate or post-graduate student in good academic standing in any health-related program (e.g. public health, nursing, medicine, etc.)
- Member of VRHA for the current academic year
- Willingness to serve as a liaison between the VRHA board and other student members
- Willingness to participate in board conference calls as class schedule allows
- Willingness to engage in regular e-mail and telephone dialogue with other board members
- Vision for the development of an enhanced role for students within VRHA
- Willingness to work with academic programs that do not have a strong VRHA student membership to recruit new members
- Commitment to serve the people of rural Virginia
Completed application form must be accompanied by:
- A personal letter of interest (1 page maximum)
- Current resume or CV
- 2 letters of recommendation by faculty in your academic program
Individuals selected will receive a complimentary student membership with the National Rural Health Association!
Deadline: May 24, 2026
Annual Conference
2026 Rural Health Voice Conference
November 18-19
Institute for Advanced Learning & Research
Danville, VA
Student Essay Contest
Applications Open August 2026
VRHA invites students who are in any health or public policy program to submit essays on why they want to serve rural communities. Three essays will be selected to receive free conference registration.
The author of the winning essay will have the honor of reading the essay at the conference, plus 2 complimentary nights at the hotel and a $500 cash prize!
Student Poster Contest
Applications Open August 2026
First Place: $500
Second Place: $250
Third Place: $100
The Poster Presentations provide participants with the ideal opportunity to disseminate information to other rural health stakeholders. Poster Presentations may include research projects, case studies, clinical evaluations, case presentations, observations, unusual or uncommon situations and other topics as they relate to rural health. All types of health professions and public policy students are encouraged to submit applications for consideration. Posters co-authored by professionals are acceptable as long as the student is the lead author and presenter
All posters must have a Virginia perspective: either submitted by a student from Virginia, or by a student attending a Virginia school, or a poster topic on a Virginia issue. Entries with no relation to Virginia will not be considered.
Categories & Judging:
Presentations will be reviewed and judged by the following criteria –
- Rural relevance (30 points)
- Presenter – enthusiastic, professional, well-prepared (20 points)
- Interpretation of data (10 points)
- Abstract or summary of findings (10 points)
- Proper reference/citations (10 points)
- Background & Rationale (10 points)
- General overview/layout of the poster (10 points)
Submission information and general instructions:
- Incomplete submissions will not be reviewed by the planning committee.
- Presenters may not use posters to market products or services; exhibit space is available for that purpose.
- While there are no requirements or limitations on poster size, 48″ x 36″ (landscape) is most frequently used for research conferences and symposiums.
- No honoraria or travel expense reimbursement will be provided. Complimentary registration is provided for one student presenter only.
- The presenter is responsible for having the poster printed and bringing a display easel to the event.