DRHC is led by physicians, medical students, and pre-medical students. Some grew up rural. Others came to the work through training, research, or a patient they could not stop thinking about. The national fellowship sits at the center, with state leads running deployments on the ground.
Kendra on growing up rural, what she saw, and why digital access became the work.
Kendra Robinson, MD, leads the Digital Rural Health Corps as AMSA's National Digital Rural Health Fellow, the position that sets the program's direction, opens new states, and builds the leadership structure students step into.
A recent medical school graduate and a North Carolina native, Robinson grew up in a rural community and saw firsthand what stands between a patient and their care: distance, thin specialty coverage, transportation, and now the digital tools that increasingly sit in front of every appointment.
Through DRHC she works to expand where students can serve and what they can do once they get there, teaching patients to navigate patient portals, telehealth visits, and the other digital health tools that decide whether care is actually reachable.
Her focus this year is growth: opening new communities, building leadership roles for students inside the corps, and forming the partnerships that carry the model across the country.
Healthcare should be accessible to everyone, regardless of where they live.
Georgia lead · MD/MPH candidate
Leads the Georgia project, launched in January 2026 under the AHEC network's federally funded Rural Health Transformation Program award. A fourth-year MD/MPH candidate at the Medical College of Georgia, he partners with leaders across the state to identify deployment sites, train new volunteers, and build curriculum the project can reproduce elsewhere.
Ohio state lead · University of Cincinnati
A second-year biological sciences student on the pre-medical track, minoring in chemistry and psychology. She joined in August 2025 and has since hosted training sessions at UC, organized Spanish-language deployments, and writes the program's monthly newsletter. She grew up in Paulding County, a rural community in northwest Ohio.
Georgia · University of Georgia
A junior in regenerative bioscience with a minor in health policy and management, on the pre-medical track. A National Stamps Scholar and UGA Foundation Fellow, she serves as president of UGA's AMSA chapter, the university's largest pre-medical organization.
Georgia committee · Emory University
Works with student leaders across Georgia to identify deployment sites, develop research initiatives, and support committee operations. He studied chemistry at Emory, and the disparities in care he saw during COVID-19 shape his focus on rural and underserved patients.
Georgia · Kennesaw State University
A recent graduate whose work supporting elderly patients through digital health tools, and watching hesitation turn into delayed treatment, drives her focus on making care accessible and usable for aging populations.
Ohio · University of Cincinnati
A third-year biomedical sciences major pursuing a career in medicine. She joined in September 2025 and has contributed at Ohio deployments, helping patients understand and reach the digital health resources already available to them.
Ohio · University of Cincinnati
A first-year biochemistry major. She joined in September 2025 and has assisted with multiple Spanish-language deployments at the CAIN Food Pantry site in Hamilton County.
Program & Partner Architect
Supports program design and partnership development for the corps.
Project Manager
Coordinates deployment scheduling and protocol across active sites.
Ohio pilot fellow · 2024
One of the two fellows selected to lead the original Ohio pilot, the five-county deployment funded by the KeyBank Foundation that became the model for every state since.
Ohio pilot fellow · 2024
Co-led the Ohio pilot from launch through the first deployments, helping build the training and field protocol that student navigators use today.
Student navigators carry the program. They train, deploy into their own communities, and collect the data that makes the model credible. Leadership roles open with every new state.
