Marshall University student recognized as Rural Health Student of the Year

Ashalia Aggarwal, a second-year student in the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University, has earned recognition from the West Virginia Rural Health Association as the 2023 Outstanding Rural Health Student of the Year.

According to an article on Marshall University’s website, Jennifer Plymale, who serves as the director of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Rural Health, nominated Aggarwal for the recognition. Of Aggarwal, Plymale said, “Ashalia Aggarwal truly stands out in any crowd as a compassionate, bright, humble, caring and dedicated young professional. Having experienced the stress and isolation that can come from extended childhood hospital stays, she has dedicated her life to medicine and the service of others and has found a passion for service to rural communities through her work with the Giving Palm, the West Virginia Rural Health Association and Coalfield Health Center. She takes advantage of every educational and outreach opportunity offered to her and has accomplished more for others in her short time on this earth than many others ever do.”

Aggarwal has done a lot of work promoting literacy and providing inspirational books and journals to teenagers who are enduring hospital stays. In 2016, when Aggawal was still a teenager herself, she established Giving Palm, the organization that distributes these books and journals. The program was expanded to give books to rural clinics for ill pediatric patients. She is an advocate of literacy being an integral part of medical care and has given TedTalks on the subject.

Focusing on rural healthcare is a major component of Aggarwal’s research. She is currently collaborating with Adam Franks, M.D. of the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine to give books featuring diverse characters to pediatric patients in Coalfield Health Center and Marshall Health clinics.

Aggarwal herself is a member of the West Virginia Rural Health Association, serving on both its diversity committee and the board of directors. She has led initiatives and had a hand in organizing the National Rural Cancer Control Conference in Missouri, which aimed to remove barriers to healthcare in rural communities. 

For more information about Marshall University, visit the school’s website.