Hello. I am new to OPM, but expect to be a frequent future visitor. I am also a fairly new pre-med student, recently escaping from the world of finance and cubicles. The area of medicine that has most strongly caught my interest is rural medicine, and I am trying to learn as much as I can about the field. Is anyone in OPM specializing in rural medicine? What would you recommend to a person who is interested in entering that field? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a rural doctor? What medical schools would you recommend? What skills would you consider the most important?
Funny you should ask, our anchor speaker on Sat at our upcoming conference is the Director of Research in Rural Medicine at the Univ of Nebraska: Dr. Rob Bowman. He has published a selection of papers & runs an organization focused upon rural medicine - we have at least a couple of members in common. The only paper of Dr. Bowman’s I have an electronic version of is a pre-publication edition - not yet published & the topic of his talk at our conference. However, I do not have his permission to release it; so I feel compelled to ask prior to making it available.
However, hopefully Gabe will see this thread & make comments, I can scrounge around & find links to Dr. Bowman’s group & maybe his e-mail. Gim’me a day or two - if I have not posted the above info in this thread, drop me a PM or e-mail to remind me.
Ivan,
The group OldManDave speaks of can be found here: http://www.unmc.edu/Community/ruralmeded/narme.htm
There’s an article titled “Which Medical School for a Rural-Interested Student” that Dr. Bowman has put together as well. It gives some indication as to which schools are considered top schools for graduating doctors who choose rural medicine. I’m not sure how current it is, but it is a good read and his contact information as at the end of the article. You can find the article at http://www.unmc.edu/Community/ruralmeded/model/preprof/Which_MedSchool4Rural.htm
Larry
Ivan,
I am graduating this year from one of the schools listed in the article, (Michigan State) and I am in the Rural Physician Program at the school. While I do not yet know if I am going to practice in a rural environment, the training has been great. Add to that the fact that I think MSUCHM is a very good school in several other ways. It also has some advantages for non-trads in that it is very committed to diversity in the class of all sorts. Also, MSUCHM takes up to 20% out of state students. The class size will be expanding with the expansion (expansion, NOT move, contrary to rumor) to Grand Rapids (I’m not entirely sure by how much, or exactly what year that will be).
I’d be happy to answer questions about it, if you are interested. Feel free to PM me, too.
Epidoc
Since you’re in Colorado, you might consider UCHSC, which is expanding its rural programs and has always had rural rotations available in third and fourth years. I interviewed at Michigan State and liked their program, but couldn’t swallow the $35K out of state tuition for 4 years.
The admissions committee at UCHSC tell us that every applicant claims they are interested in rural medicine, but that interest usually evaporates once they get accepted, or at least by the end of fourth year. So if you really are interested, it might be good to do some research and find out about the issues that rural doctors face.
A huge issue for most people considering rural practice is finances and repaying student loans; income will be lower than a specialist’s, but many states have good loan repayment programs for rural doctors. Do some research on this; you might also consider programs like the National Health Service Corps, which would give you a full-ride scholarship in return for a service obligation.
I totally agree with Meowmix that you don’t really know if rural medicine is for you until you experience it. If, once you get to the application process, you are still interested I would go to a program where you can try rural medicine before being obligated to it-- and it really doesn’t have to be a formal program such as mine, but any place where you can do some rural rotations (and those are pretty plentiful). Also “rural” is a very broad term, so think about what sort of environment you’re interested in. “Rural” in eastern Colorado is different than rural in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. If you are interested in a farming community, get experience in that environment. If in a logging/mining type community, try that out. You should have no shortage of opportunities to try different areas, no matter where you go to school.
Good luck.
Quote:
Hello. I am new to OPM, but expect to be a frequent future visitor. I am also a fairly new pre-med student, recently escaping from the world of finance and cubicles. The area of medicine that has most strongly caught my interest is rural medicine, and I am trying to learn as much as I can about the field. Is anyone in OPM specializing in rural medicine? What would you recommend to a person who is interested in entering that field? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a rural doctor? What medical schools would you recommend? What skills would you consider the most important?
I just wanted you to know, I will be a rural FP. I took care of Pt’s as a Hospice RN out in the “Sticks” or “GOD’s country” as we called it and loved it. I liked the idea of living in the sticks and going where I’m needed but If I was a lot younger I dunno? BTW medical practice is not limited like on the island where I am LOL but there is problems like some specialists far enough that the Pt’s must plan travel days for visits, care is coodinated by the FP when they are back home, so the involvment is sometimes greater.
Good Luck
What is your geographic location?
Would you be interested in KANSAS as a possibility for a place to live?
I am a native Virginian, Richmond to be exact. I graduated from nursing school in 1995, I had even dreamed of medical school before I had finished, but having a career (more or less) not around hospitals, I figured at the minimum, nursing would get me up and close to the whole thing. I applied and was accepted to KU in 1996, but our finances at the time prohibited “going for it” then.
We got out here and found we enjoyed rural Kansas’ more liesurely pace (honestly a GREAT place to raise kids), also much of rural northeast Kansas where we settled was MUCH less “backward” than our reputation would have you believe. PLUS, the housing costs were NOWHERE near the level of Richmond Virginia. We bought a house which was MUCH larger than what we had in Richmond (Bon Air section)for something on the order of 1/4.
If you read my story (posted elsewhere), we got a “small inheritance”; it really WAS small, we only owed $15,000 on the house and $3,000 on the cars and $6000 to have our bankruptcy (thanks to "underinsurance: and a child with meningitis) discharged 4 years early. There was just enough left to anonymously prevent a family with a premee, induced by an MVC with a drunk from going through what we had to!
Sorry, I get off on tangients of “story telling”, it is perhaps my worst fault, anyway the University of Kansas is in WONDERFUL Lawrence and is a BARGAIN compared to you folks on either coast. I almost paid as much for a community college in Richmond. It is listed in Fiske’s guide to best buys in education.
Once you have established a “history” in Kansas, the medical school admission was really not nearly the problem I had anticipated. Sure, it is like any other MD school as far as requirements but they DO favor Kansans (OR those who show evidence of transplant)
So my undergraduate debt is quite reasonable AND there IS NO MEDICAL SCHOOL DEBT. PLEASE REREAD THAT… I have NO medical school debt…
The Kansas Medical Loan Repayment program (KMS)is the deal of the century as far as I am concerned, acceptance is AUTOMATIC for ANY student accepted to the KU School of medicine. The terms briefly, the state pays for your tuition in full (KU SOM like KU Lawrence is a bargain anyway) and gives you a stipend of (the legislature just raised it March) $2000/ month.
In return, you must agree to practice primary care (defined as Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics or Emergency Medicine)in a “rural, underserved county” in Kansas (as defined as everywhere except: Douglas (Lawrence), Johnson, Wyandotte (Kansas City), Shawnee (Topeka) and Sedgwick (Wichita) counties) for ONE YEAR for every year you get the grant (one to one payback, done in 4 if you take the grant 4), heck that is even better than the military who want a 7 year payback.
The one caution, the repayment terms are a little punative if you decide to go elsewere, payback is at 18% interest unless you finance it somewhere else.
Richard