SULLIVAN COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)—Every year on the first day of school, Layla Ellis’s mother, Keela, snaps a photo of her daughter with a handwritten sign featuring milestones and always what she hoped to be when she grew up.
In kindergarten, the sign said “a singer who plays music like Taylor Swift.” But by about seventh grade, Layla said that the sign proudly read “Pediatric Oncologist” and hasn’t changed since.
Now, she’s one step closer to making that dream come true, thanks to a scholarship that runs in the family.
In a rural hospital in Sullivan County, medicine has been the family business. But this fall, Layla Ellis isn’t just starting college; she’s continuing a legacy.
“I was given a full tuition scholarship to Indiana State University called the Rural Health Scholarship,” Layla said. “That is a full-tuition, pre-med, undergraduate program to help prepare you to get into medical school.”
Her dad, Dr. Dustin Ellis, received the very same scholarship in 1999. Now, 25 years later, his daughter becomes the first second-generation recipient.
“It’s really a surreal thing,” Dr. Ellis said. “We’re so proud of her, she’s worked really hard, she’s got a great work ethic, she’s a bright student, I know she’s got a really bright future ahead of her, and I know that she can do this. She’s got her mind set on this, and she’s one of those kids who, once she sets her mind on something, just stand back and watch her.
Growing up in her dad’s clinic, Layla traded dollhouses for stethoscopes.
“There are so many pictures of coming in during the summer and playing doctor and walking around in lab coats,” Layla said. “I wouldn’t ever say that I felt pressured to go into medicine, but just being in the office all the time really did grow that passion and that love for medicine and helping people,” she added.
Her calling became crystal clear on a mission trip to Ecuador, a trip she shared with her dad.
“Just being able to share medicine with her, too, and my love for that and passion for serving people, especially underserved people, to me it helped solidify that that’s what she wanted to do with her life,” Dr. Ellis said.
“That definitely settled in that I wanted to do medicine and there was an incredible opportunity,” Layla said. “One of the providers on the staff was a nurse practitioner who works in pediatric oncology, and so I got to sit and I got to be her scribe and job shadow her for the day and kind of pick her brain.”
The Rural Health Scholarship doesn’t just cover tuition — it covers dreams. And this family knows just how far it can go.
“I’m just really grateful for that opportunity and what’s ahead,” she said.
Indiana State University, in partnership with Indiana University School of Medicine, offers the Rural Health Scholarship each year for ten applicants. According to ISU’s website, it’s designed specifically for applicants who have a strong interest in providing care to family and friends in rural Indiana and Illinois, specifically as a primary care physician.
To learn more about the Rural Health Scholarship at Indiana State University in partnership with Indiana University School of Medicine, including how it supports future doctors like Layla, click here.
