Medical students provide rural care
Editor’s Note: The following is an article from the University of Missouri School of Medicine. The school points out that the Missouri Department of Health estimates that 108 out of 144 Missouri counties are designated as underserved in terms of physicians. With a government-run public insurance option under consideration and an aging population, the primary care physician shortage is anticipated to intensify in coming years.
Jessica Johnson wasn’t sure of what to expect of rural life or medicine in Kennett, Mo., but when she learned of the high rate of asthma among children in the bootheel town, she wanted to help them learn more about the disease. Across the state near Joplin, Lincoln Sheets wanted rural Latino middle school students to consider careers in health care fields, so he began planning a bilingual job fair for the fall.
Both Johnson and Sheets are third-year medical students at the University of Missouri School of Medicine and participants in the school’s rural track clerkship program, which pairs students with community-based faculty from across the state for up to six months of clinical rotations. The rural track program, coordinated by the MU Area Health Education Center, gives medical students the opportunity to experience rural life and medicine with the hope that the future physicians would someday choose to practice in rural communities.
Twenty percent of the students who participated in the MU Rural Track Clerkship Program from 1997 to 2005 are now practicing in Missouri towns with a population of 18,000 or less. Research shows that the more involved students become in their communities, the more likely they are to have a positive experience in a rural setting, said Jana Porter, coordinator of rural health education for the MU School of Medicine. So starting in 2007, students like Johnson and Sheets have been given the option of completing a community integration project (CIP) – a customized experience beyond rural clinic walls where students attend local events, volunteer, and participate through service learning projects.
“Doing these types of projects helps show students the role that rural physicians play in their towns, beyond their medical practice,” Porter said. “A lot of them serve as community leaders and involved citizens.”
For Johnson, a native of suburban St. Louis, working alongside rural physicians has been an eye-opening experience.
“Doing this as a student lets you see how much of an impact you can have as a rural physician,” Johnson said. “But it also comes with great responsibility in that you can never take the white coat off, so to speak. Everyone always sees you as a physician.”
When completing their community integration project, students choose their own level of involvement. While some participate in local festivals and events, others become more engaged by volunteering in an existing service program or by working with local organizations to develop a project that identifies and meets a community need.
Johnson is working with quality improvement staff at Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center in Kennett to develop asthma education resources for children, which would be distributed at local schools, clinics and the hospital emergency department. Kennett, a town of 11,000, is an agricultural community with one of the densest asthma populations in the state.