RUMFORD – The Rumford Hospital Loan/Scholarship Committee has selected five healthcare students to receive education funds for the coming year.

Ashley Cihak of Rumford will attend the University of Maine Fort Kent where she will study nursing. She expects to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in 2008. She has spent two years at other colleges, so has only two years of study remaining for her bachelor’s degree.

She has been working at Rumford Community Home as a CNA.

Janice Durland of Rumford will study nursing at the Central Maine Medical Center School of Nursing. Her anticipated graduation year is 2006. Recently she has been a secretary in the Rumford Hospital Emergency Department, but she had been in computer drafting.

Kristen Nicols of Mexico is slated to graduate from St. Joseph College’s School of Nursing in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree. She graduated from Mountain Valley High School.

Rebecca Pulk of Carthage will attend Central Maine Community College to study to become a laboratory technician. She is scheduled to graduate in 2007. She graduated from Dirigo High School in Dixfield this year.

Judith Thibodeau of Rumford will attend the Central Maine Medical Center School of Nursing. She expects to graduate in 2007. She has been a CNA at Rumford Hospital and has 14 years of experience.

Awards to students accepted into college or technical school programs are made as loans; however, the loans are forgiven if students work at Rumford Hospital for 12 months or the Rumford Community Home for six months after completing their studies. The loans are also forgiven if there is no opening at the hospital or home for the student’s specialty.

Scholarship loans are $2,000 a year up to a total of $8,000 for a four-year program. Students must successfully complete the first semester of each year before the loan is paid.

“More students have returned to Rumford Hospital to work in recent years,” said Jane Aube, director of nursing. “That is due in part to the CMMC School of Nursing giving classes at the Rumford-Mexico University College.”

The local classes allow non-traditional students to work toward their nursing degree without disrupting their lives. Many of the students have spouses and children and are invested in the River Valley area, so they don’t “move away” when they complete their training.