Kentucky leads the nation in cancer rates and mortality, according to the National Institute for Health.

That's in part because of the high rates of cancer in eastern Kentucky.

One program at the University of Kentucky is empowering students from the area to be part of the solution.

Appalachian Kentucky.

Career training and oncology or Action for Short, has trained more than 150 students from eastern Kentucky and cancer research and care since 2016.

We hear from some of those students and tonight's look at medical news.

The program is all about giving high school and undergraduate students from Eastern Kentucky opportunities to get training in cancer research and oncology health care experiences.

They get an opportunity to conduct hands on research.

And in really any of our world class cancer research labs, they get opportunities to to shadow clinicians, observe clinical and clinical settings.

And that can include in the operating room and clinics and other patient care settings.

Honestly, I saw it as the best way that I could possibly give back to my community.

It just seemed like it was constantly someone telling you about their cancer diagnosis or, you know, someone was passing from cancer because they hadn't sought the help that they needed or they just didn't have the access.

It can be argued that there's no other state in the country that has a cancer burden like we have in Kentucky.

What's worse is that those rates are greatest by a significant margin in eastern Kentucky.

So we really need people from that area to be interested in and prepared to pursue cancer related careers, because those are the people that are most invested in this issue, because they have family, they live there.

They have family and friends that live there.

So we need those people to be invested and prepared to pursue oncology careers to help us solve this problem in the long term.

I've known people in my entire life that are afraid of doctors in Appalachia.

Typically, how it goes is a lot of people, Appalachia, wait till the last minute to go and seek treatment, seek help, figure out what's going on.

So it's a mindset.

If I go to the doctor, I'm going to die.

It's a death sentence.

We know that medical mistrust is very high in rural communities.

And so that's one reason why it's really important for us to train these students, get them prepared to pursue health care careers, because we know that health care providers from the areas in which they serve, there's much higher trust.

There's such a stigma on Appalachians because people are like, What are they are doing in of?

But if you're in Appalachia yourself, you understand what's happening in communities.

You're seeing how poorly were treated and you're more likely to understand and actually help these people and you're not going to see them as a paycheck.

It is very important that Appalachian students get the opportunity to realize that just because they're from small towns or just because they are from Appalachia, that they can still become something and they can still make something of themselves.

And oftentimes.

Well, I know every student that has come through the action program has some kind of cancer story themselves.

So it's important that they realize that not only can they become something, but they can be the person who comes home and gives back to their community and is able to make a difference.

Students in the action program also get to publish writing about their experiences.

Dr. Vander Ford and his students have released three books about cancer in Appalachia, and a fourth is expected to be published later this year.