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Shannon Woods, left, is a third-year medical student in
the School of Medicine’s rural track program. Dr.
Anthony Poole, an MU alumnus and gynecologist in Sikeston,
Mo., is mentoring him as part of the program, which aims
to increase the number of physicians practicing in rural
Missouri. Photo courtesy of University of Missouri Health
Care
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Leading the Way in Rural Medicine
By Velvet Hasner
The University of Missouri-Columbia is addressing
Missouri's shortage of rural physicians with the support of a
$955,000 grant from the Missouri
Foundation for Health.
The new grant will be used to expand the School
of Medicine's rural track program, which recruits, trains and
places physicians in areas of need.
“MU's School
of Medicine is the major provider of physicians for the state,”
said Dr. Linda Headrick, senior associate dean for medical education
and faculty development. “By expanding the rural track program,
this grant allows us to contribute even more to Missouri by ensuring
that students who are interested in rural practice are well prepared
to serve such areas.”
The grant project will be led by Headrick;
Weldon Webb, the medical school's director of rural health programs;
and Kathleen Quinn, program director for MU's Area
Health Education Center. They describe the rural track program
as a pipeline that spans several years, from before future physicians
begin college to the time they are practicing in rural communities.
The pipeline's basic components are its career programs for junior-high
and high-school students, a pre-admissions program leading to
MU's medical school and rural residency training sites, and a
bridging program that places physicians in rural communities.
Grant funds will help MU’s medical school
create two new rural training sites, expand its pre-admissions
program and implement a new bridging program. Currently, the rural
track program training sites are in Rolla, Popular Bluff and St.
Joseph. These cities were chosen because they are located near
rural communities but are large enough to support regional hospitals
and multispecialty practitioners.
“We will develop new rural teaching
sites in Monett, Aurora, Neosho, Mt. Vernon and Joplin to serve
the southwest quadrant of the state,” Headrick said. “In
addition, we will expand our teaching center in Poplar Bluff to
include Sikeston and serve more counties in southeast Missouri.”
Missouri students in MU’s rural medicine pre-admission
program are given hands-on experiences. They learn suturing,
for example, by stitching pigskin. From left to right, Srijana
Shrestha of Rolla, Jessica Broyles of Huck Point and Clayton
Butcher and Laura Dooley of Warrenton follow the hands of
their instructor, Dr. Scott Kirkley, a resident physician
in general internal medicine. Brian W. Kratzer photo,
Columbia Daily Tribune
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Junior-high and high-school programs administered
by the regional Area Health Education Centers in Springfield and
Poplar Bluff will be enhanced in southwest and southeast Missouri
in conjunction with the new and expanded teaching sites. The programs
are designed to educate students about health care career opportunities.
The grant also will help create part of the
pipeline called the bridging program. This program is instrumental
in placing physicians in rural communities where they enjoy working
and living. Kathy Brown was hired as project director for the
program in April. She previously served as director of program
services at Missouri Family Health
Council for 13 years. Her duties included monitoring, evaluating
and providing technical assistance for 21 agencies throughout
Missouri.
Brown will help new primary care physicians
find a practice and community by coordinating site visits and
compiling community profiles. She also will help ease the transition
into a new community by assisting physicians with such activities
as spouse employment and finding a home.
Other leaders in the Rural Track program are
Dr. Harold Williamson, chair of the Department
of Family and Community Medicine and medical director of rural
health programs; Dr. Michael Hosokawa, associate dean for curriculum;
Dr. Kimberly Hoffman, director of evaluation; Dr. Robert McCallum,
associate dean for student programs; Dr. Kevin Kane, assistant
professor and medical director for the MU Area Health Education
Center; and Dr. Jack Gay, assistant dean for graduate medical
education and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology.
Note: This story was published originally
in the April/May 2005 issue of Archives, a publication
for University of Missouri Health Care staff members.
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Last Update:
November 15, 2007
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