LUKE REEDER
The Nashville News
Being able to have a one in ten chance to do anything is not a betting man’s odds, but for Nashville High School senior Brittany Backus a ten percent chance was a gamble she was willing to take.
Backus like many seniors in her class has been shopping around for which college would be the right fit for her. But unlike most of her class Backus went out on a limb and applied for a prestigious program and was able to get accepted, “It is called the OBU Biomedical Scholars Program. It’s a six semester program that only ten people get accepted into,” Backus explained.
The program at Ouachita Baptist University was almost not an option for Backus, “It was not always my plan. We did not find out about the program until the week before applications were due after my admissions counselor at Ouachita told me about it,” Backus said.
To get into the program a student must have at least a 30 on their ACT or an SAT CR+M score of 1340 or higher, have at least six transferable college credits, and with a maximum of ten students accepted a year it was nerve racking for Backus to even apply, but she knew if she was able to get into this program it could boost her college education emensely, “It made me super nervous (to apply). I waqs afraid of being rejected because once I head about the program, I knew that is was what I really wanted to do,” Backus said. After she was called by Dr. Hensley the Department Chair of Biology at Ouachita Baptist, Backus said she was excited and so relieved to get accepted into the program.
The Biomedical Scholars Program will immerse Backus in the many aspects of the medical field. Students who are part of the program begin their freshman year two weeks earlier than the rest of the OBU student body. In those two weeks the ten students will take part in a “Biomedical Sciences Bootcamp.” During this bootcamp the students will get to shadow several different doctors in different fields. For Backus, this time will help her get a better grip on what she plans to focus on in the medical field, “I’ll get a better idea what career I want to follow after I get to shadow different doctors. All I know right now is that I want to be accepted into medical school after my three years at OBU,” Backus explained.
When classes start Backus and her fellow scholors will embark on a six semester academic journey that will include at least 40 hours of community service, at least 120 hours of clinical shadowing, an experimental research project, a study abroad experience and much more.
Backus has worked hard to keep in the top percentile of her graduating class and her hard work has paid off as she enters into her first year of college and becomes part of an exclusive medical program.
