MARQUETTE — Upper Peninsula high school seniors who plan to enroll at a college or university in fall 2022 and pursue a health care field are invited to participate in an essay contest celebrating National Rural Health Day.

Cash prizes are to be awarded in the eastern, central and western U.P. regions are $500 for first place, $250 for second and $100 for third. The entry deadline is Friday.

The contest is sponsored by the Northern Michigan University Center for Rural Health and the Michigan Center for Rural Health.

The essay topic to be addressed, in 500 or fewer words, is this: “As a resident of Michigan’s U.P., what are some ways that Emergency Medical Services agencies and communities could interact to build and strengthen relationships that might further enhance the recruitment, retention and overall success of EMS personnel and agencies in the U.P.?”

According to a press release, the online introduction to the topic states that a shortage of paramedics and Emergency Medical Services personnel began a few years ago in Michigan and was exacerbated by the pandemic.

Winners will be notified the second week in November and the first-place essays will be shared with students’ hometown newspapers in the hope of the essays being published Nov. 18, which is National Rural Health Day. Winners will receive their prizes in January. For more information, or to submit an entry, visit msu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6mLfGD9kdHxAy2O]https://msu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6mLfGD9kdHxAy2O