(KLZA) Rachel Henry, a sophomore business administration/management major at Peru State College has been accepted into the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Public Health Early Admissions Student Track program known as (PHEAST).  Henry is a native of Auburn.

The announcement was made by Peru State and UNMC this week.  The PHEAST program is a cooperative program between the Nebraska State College System, UNMC’s College of Public Health and the University of Nebraska at Kearney.  The purpose of the program is to create a pipeline of public health professionals who will practice in Nebraska.

Students selected for the program pay no tuition and are assigned a mentor at the UNMC College of Public Health.  Henry will join students from other rural Nebraska institutions who, in two years, will convene in the UNMC College of Public Health’s Master’s of public health program.  Dr. Patrik Johansson, director of Rural Health Education at the UNMC College of Public Health says the hope is that the students will become public health leaders in Nebraska whose work will promote public health and sustainability of rural communities.  

Rachel Henry, the daughter of Todd and Shawna Henry of Auburn is part of the three-person team that won first place this summer in the Community Service category at the national Phi Beta Lambda competition for a presentation on Children’s Health, Activity, & Nutrition community Engagement Initiative.

She also works with the Food Bank of Lincoln as a mobile distribution volunteer and is responsible for establishing Feeding 44, a partnership between Peru State College and, the Food Bank of Lincoln and Catholic Social Services of Southeast Nebraska that created a rural mobile food distribution center for Nemaha County, one of the states most food insecure areas.