MSU nutrition graduate students to compete in RICE Bowl

Author: Georgia Clarke

Three Mississippi State University graduate students will travel to the state capital Oct. 27 to take part in the second RICE Bowl.

An interdisciplinary health-care competition whose title is an acronym for Rural Interdisciplinary Case Experience, the 5:30-7:30 p.m. event takes place in the University of Mississippi Medical Center's conference center at the Jackson Medical Mall.

Interested members of the general public are being encouraged to attend both the competition and reception that follows at the location.

All pursuing master's degrees and serving as dietetic interns in the food science, nutrition and health promotion department, the MSU team includes Tiffany M. Mihaliak of Clarksburg, West Virginia; Kayla E. Proctor of Ocean Springs; and Brooke A. West of Ashburn, Virginia.

Proctor is pursuing her third degree in the academic major from MSU, with a bachelor's degree completed in 2013 and her first master's the following year. Mihaliak is a graduate of West Virginia University; West, Virginia Tech University.

The Rice Bowl again is organized by UMMC's Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities, Myrlie Evers-Williams Institute for the Elimination of Health Disparities and Office of Population Health. The challenge was designed to provide an experiential learning opportunity for students from multiple disciplines working in teams to address complex rural health issues.

In addition to MSU and UMMC, institutions represented this year will include Belhaven and Jackson State universities, Mississippi College and University of Mississippi.

"This is a great opportunity for graduate students and dietetic interns to practice their critical thinking skills while participating in a friendly multidisciplinary case study competition and working with graduate students in other healthcare disciplines," said MSU professor Diane Tidwell.

Tidwell directs the department's didactic program in dietetics. For more on the department, visit www.fsnhp.msstate.edu.

Date: 2015-09-30