Academic Medicine Open Forum

Encouraging young doctors to take up rural practice is challenging. Rural areas may have fewer opportunities for working spouses, school systems with fewer resources, and offer lower salaries that make it harder to pay off student debt. But many medical schools have created rural training programs to attract and retain students to rural practice. We're highlighting just a few of them here. 

But we'd also like to hear from you: does your institution have a successful program to attract and retain a rural healthcare workforce? 

• In 2017, University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine received the AAMC Spencer Foreman Community Service Award in acknowledgement of the institution's leading work in retaining physicians to work in rural communities. Learn about what works for the Sanford School of Medicine.
• University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences Rural Opportunities in Medical Education (ROME) program sends medical students to live and learn in rural communities.
• University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health' Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine takes third and fourth year students to do their clinical experiences at regional sites that serve as gateways to rural communities.
• The Rural Physician Associate Program at the University of Minnesota Medical School places third-year medical students in nine-month rural immersions and has been around for 50 years. 
• University of Kansas School of Medicine Scholars in Rural Health program identifies and encourages undergraduate students from rural parts of the state to apply for the program. Qualified candidates are guaranteed admission to the medical school contingent on successfully completing college. 

A recent AAMC study examined what moves physicians to work in rural areas. Researchers found that rural origin is a powerful and reliable predictor for rural practice, and that new and experienced physicians have different priorities regarding location choice. Physicians choosing rural practice locations are more likely to be motivated by compensation, the resemblance of the environment to the one they grew up in, patient needs, and pre-negotiated service obligations or visa/immigration status. They are less likely to attribute their location choice to social network proximity. 

And, of course, the National Health Service Corps is an essential funder of federal scholarship and loan repayment programs for physicians who work in underserved rural, tribal and urban communities. Read more about NHSC recipients.

In 2020, we launched a rural track, the Lincoln Scholars Program, where they do all their training in rural Southern Illinois.  Our usual track has them in Southern IL (Carbondale) for 1 year, and then 3 years in Springfield, a small city, for years 2-4.  Since it just began, we don't yet have data on how well it works.  Prior to this, we had focused our efforts on selecting students from downstate Illinois, which is fairly rural.

https://www.siumed.edu/lincoln-scholars-program  

Encouraging young doctors to take up rural practice is challenging. Rural areas may have fewer opportunities for working spouses, school systems with fewer resources, and offer lower salaries that make it harder to pay off student debt. But many medical schools have created rural training programs to attract and retain students to rural practice. We're highlighting just a few of them here. 

But we'd also like to hear from you: does your institution have a successful program to attract and retain a rural healthcare workforce? 

• In 2017, University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine received the AAMC Spencer Foreman Community Service Award in acknowledgement of the institution's leading work in retaining physicians to work in rural communities. Learn about what works for the Sanford School of Medicine.
• University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences Rural Opportunities in Medical Education (ROME) program sends medical students to live and learn in rural communities.
• University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health' Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine takes third and fourth year students to do their clinical experiences at regional sites that serve as gateways to rural communities.
• The Rural Physician Associate Program at the University of Minnesota Medical School places third-year medical students in nine-month rural immersions and has been around for 50 years. 
• University of Kansas School of Medicine Scholars in Rural Health program identifies and encourages undergraduate students from rural parts of the state to apply for the program. Qualified candidates are guaranteed admission to the medical school contingent on successfully completing college. 

A recent AAMC study examined what moves physicians to work in rural areas. Researchers found that rural origin is a powerful and reliable predictor for rural practice, and that new and experienced physicians have different priorities regarding location choice. Physicians choosing rural practice locations are more likely to be motivated by compensation, the resemblance of the environment to the one they grew up in, patient needs, and pre-negotiated service obligations or visa/immigration status. They are less likely to attribute their location choice to social network proximity. 

And, of course, the National Health Service Corps is an essential funder of federal scholarship and loan repayment programs for physicians who work in underserved rural, tribal and urban communities. Read more about NHSC recipients.

Encouraging young doctors to take up rural practice is challenging. Rural areas may have fewer opportunities for working spouses, school systems with fewer resources, and offer lower salaries that make it harder to pay off student debt. But many medical schools have created rural training programs to attract and retain students to rural practice. We're highlighting just a few of them here. 

But we'd also like to hear from you: does your institution have a successful program to attract and retain a rural healthcare workforce? 

• In 2017, University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine received the AAMC Spencer Foreman Community Service Award in acknowledgement of the institution's leading work in retaining physicians to work in rural communities. Learn about what works for the Sanford School of Medicine.
• University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences Rural Opportunities in Medical Education (ROME) program sends medical students to live and learn in rural communities.
• University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health' Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine takes third and fourth year students to do their clinical experiences at regional sites that serve as gateways to rural communities.
• The Rural Physician Associate Program at the University of Minnesota Medical School places third-year medical students in nine-month rural immersions and has been around for 50 years. 
• University of Kansas School of Medicine Scholars in Rural Health program identifies and encourages undergraduate students from rural parts of the state to apply for the program. Qualified candidates are guaranteed admission to the medical school contingent on successfully completing college. 

A recent AAMC study examined what moves physicians to work in rural areas. Researchers found that rural origin is a powerful and reliable predictor for rural practice, and that new and experienced physicians have different priorities regarding location choice. Physicians choosing rural practice locations are more likely to be motivated by compensation, the resemblance of the environment to the one they grew up in, patient needs, and pre-negotiated service obligations or visa/immigration status. They are less likely to attribute their location choice to social network proximity. 

And, of course, the National Health Service Corps is an essential funder of federal scholarship and loan repayment programs for physicians who work in underserved rural, tribal and urban communities. Read more about NHSC recipients.

• University of Utah has the Rural and Underserved Utah Training Experience (RUUTE), which has also expanded now into Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. With so much rural area in the Mountain West, programs like RUUTE are essential. RUUTE includes a K-12 pipeline that encourages students from rural and frontier areas to pursue higher education in health care disciplines. It also provides clinical experiences in rural and tribal areas of the state. We recently published a blog post about one of our RUUTE medical students. There's quite a bit more to it. 
• We also have a Tribal, Rural, and Underserved Education (TRUE) program that prepares and encourages medical students to choose residencies and careers in primary care that serve tribal communities, rural communities, and/or medically underserved communities (MUCs) after they graduate.
• Part of TRUE is another program called PROMIS2U, a pre-matriculation program which provides academic support to future physicians from underrepresented and historically marginalized backgrounds.

Encouraging young doctors to take up rural practice is challenging. Rural areas may have fewer opportunities for working spouses, school systems with fewer resources, and offer lower salaries that make it harder to pay off student debt. But many medical schools have created rural training programs to attract and retain students to rural practice. We're highlighting just a few of them here. 

But we'd also like to hear from you: does your institution have a successful program to attract and retain a rural healthcare workforce? 

• In 2017, University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine received the AAMC Spencer Foreman Community Service Award in acknowledgement of the institution's leading work in retaining physicians to work in rural communities. Learn about what works for the Sanford School of Medicine.
• University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences Rural Opportunities in Medical Education (ROME) program sends medical students to live and learn in rural communities.
• University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health' Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine takes third and fourth year students to do their clinical experiences at regional sites that serve as gateways to rural communities.
• The Rural Physician Associate Program at the University of Minnesota Medical School places third-year medical students in nine-month rural immersions and has been around for 50 years. 
• University of Kansas School of Medicine Scholars in Rural Health program identifies and encourages undergraduate students from rural parts of the state to apply for the program. Qualified candidates are guaranteed admission to the medical school contingent on successfully completing college. 

A recent AAMC study examined what moves physicians to work in rural areas. Researchers found that rural origin is a powerful and reliable predictor for rural practice, and that new and experienced physicians have different priorities regarding location choice. Physicians choosing rural practice locations are more likely to be motivated by compensation, the resemblance of the environment to the one they grew up in, patient needs, and pre-negotiated service obligations or visa/immigration status. They are less likely to attribute their location choice to social network proximity. 

And, of course, the National Health Service Corps is an essential funder of federal scholarship and loan repayment programs for physicians who work in underserved rural, tribal and urban communities. Read more about NHSC recipients.

Encouraging young doctors to take up rural practice is challenging. Rural areas may have fewer opportunities for working spouses, school systems with fewer resources, and offer lower salaries that make it harder to pay off student debt. But many medical schools have created rural training programs to attract and retain students to rural practice. We're highlighting just a few of them here. 

But we'd also like to hear from you: does your institution have a successful program to attract and retain a rural healthcare workforce? 

• In 2017, University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine received the AAMC Spencer Foreman Community Service Award in acknowledgement of the institution's leading work in retaining physicians to work in rural communities. Learn about what works for the Sanford School of Medicine.
• University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences Rural Opportunities in Medical Education (ROME) program sends medical students to live and learn in rural communities.
• University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health' Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine takes third and fourth year students to do their clinical experiences at regional sites that serve as gateways to rural communities.
• The Rural Physician Associate Program at the University of Minnesota Medical School places third-year medical students in nine-month rural immersions and has been around for 50 years. 
• University of Kansas School of Medicine Scholars in Rural Health program identifies and encourages undergraduate students from rural parts of the state to apply for the program. Qualified candidates are guaranteed admission to the medical school contingent on successfully completing college. 

A recent AAMC study examined what moves physicians to work in rural areas. Researchers found that rural origin is a powerful and reliable predictor for rural practice, and that new and experienced physicians have different priorities regarding location choice. Physicians choosing rural practice locations are more likely to be motivated by compensation, the resemblance of the environment to the one they grew up in, patient needs, and pre-negotiated service obligations or visa/immigration status. They are less likely to attribute their location choice to social network proximity. 

And, of course, the National Health Service Corps is an essential funder of federal scholarship and loan repayment programs for physicians who work in underserved rural, tribal and urban communities. Read more about NHSC recipients.

Encouraging young doctors to take up rural practice is challenging. Rural areas may have fewer opportunities for working spouses, school systems with fewer resources, and offer lower salaries that make it harder to pay off student debt. But many medical schools have created rural training programs to attract and retain students to rural practice. We're highlighting just a few of them here. 

But we'd also like to hear from you: does your institution have a successful program to attract and retain a rural healthcare workforce? 

• In 2017, University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine received the AAMC Spencer Foreman Community Service Award in acknowledgement of the institution's leading work in retaining physicians to work in rural communities. Learn about what works for the Sanford School of Medicine.
• University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences Rural Opportunities in Medical Education (ROME) program sends medical students to live and learn in rural communities.
• University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health' Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine takes third and fourth year students to do their clinical experiences at regional sites that serve as gateways to rural communities.
• The Rural Physician Associate Program at the University of Minnesota Medical School places third-year medical students in nine-month rural immersions and has been around for 50 years. 
• University of Kansas School of Medicine Scholars in Rural Health program identifies and encourages undergraduate students from rural parts of the state to apply for the program. Qualified candidates are guaranteed admission to the medical school contingent on successfully completing college. 

A recent AAMC study examined what moves physicians to work in rural areas. Researchers found that rural origin is a powerful and reliable predictor for rural practice, and that new and experienced physicians have different priorities regarding location choice. Physicians choosing rural practice locations are more likely to be motivated by compensation, the resemblance of the environment to the one they grew up in, patient needs, and pre-negotiated service obligations or visa/immigration status. They are less likely to attribute their location choice to social network proximity. 

And, of course, the National Health Service Corps is an essential funder of federal scholarship and loan repayment programs for physicians who work in underserved rural, tribal and urban communities. Read more about NHSC recipients.

Encouraging young doctors to take up rural practice is challenging. Rural areas may have fewer opportunities for working spouses, school systems with fewer resources, and offer lower salaries that make it harder to pay off student debt. But many medical schools have created rural training programs to attract and retain students to rural practice. We're highlighting just a few of them here. 

But we'd also like to hear from you: does your institution have a successful program to attract and retain a rural healthcare workforce? 

• In 2017, University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine received the AAMC Spencer Foreman Community Service Award in acknowledgement of the institution's leading work in retaining physicians to work in rural communities. Learn about what works for the Sanford School of Medicine.
• University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences Rural Opportunities in Medical Education (ROME) program sends medical students to live and learn in rural communities.
• University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health' Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine takes third and fourth year students to do their clinical experiences at regional sites that serve as gateways to rural communities.
• The Rural Physician Associate Program at the University of Minnesota Medical School places third-year medical students in nine-month rural immersions and has been around for 50 years. 
• University of Kansas School of Medicine Scholars in Rural Health program identifies and encourages undergraduate students from rural parts of the state to apply for the program. Qualified candidates are guaranteed admission to the medical school contingent on successfully completing college. 

A recent AAMC study examined what moves physicians to work in rural areas. Researchers found that rural origin is a powerful and reliable predictor for rural practice, and that new and experienced physicians have different priorities regarding location choice. Physicians choosing rural practice locations are more likely to be motivated by compensation, the resemblance of the environment to the one they grew up in, patient needs, and pre-negotiated service obligations or visa/immigration status. They are less likely to attribute their location choice to social network proximity. 

And, of course, the National Health Service Corps is an essential funder of federal scholarship and loan repayment programs for physicians who work in underserved rural, tribal and urban communities. Read more about NHSC recipients.

Encouraging young doctors to take up rural practice is challenging. Rural areas may have fewer opportunities for working spouses, school systems with fewer resources, and offer lower salaries that make it harder to pay off student debt. But many medical schools have created rural training programs to attract and retain students to rural practice. We're highlighting just a few of them here. 

But we'd also like to hear from you: does your institution have a successful program to attract and retain a rural healthcare workforce? 

• In 2017, University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine received the AAMC Spencer Foreman Community Service Award in acknowledgement of the institution's leading work in retaining physicians to work in rural communities. Learn about what works for the Sanford School of Medicine.
• University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences Rural Opportunities in Medical Education (ROME) program sends medical students to live and learn in rural communities.
• University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health' Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine takes third and fourth year students to do their clinical experiences at regional sites that serve as gateways to rural communities.
• The Rural Physician Associate Program at the University of Minnesota Medical School places third-year medical students in nine-month rural immersions and has been around for 50 years. 
• University of Kansas School of Medicine Scholars in Rural Health program identifies and encourages undergraduate students from rural parts of the state to apply for the program. Qualified candidates are guaranteed admission to the medical school contingent on successfully completing college. 

A recent AAMC study examined what moves physicians to work in rural areas. Researchers found that rural origin is a powerful and reliable predictor for rural practice, and that new and experienced physicians have different priorities regarding location choice. Physicians choosing rural practice locations are more likely to be motivated by compensation, the resemblance of the environment to the one they grew up in, patient needs, and pre-negotiated service obligations or visa/immigration status. They are less likely to attribute their location choice to social network proximity. 

And, of course, the National Health Service Corps is an essential funder of federal scholarship and loan repayment programs for physicians who work in underserved rural, tribal and urban communities. Read more about NHSC recipients.

Encouraging young doctors to take up rural practice is challenging. Rural areas may have fewer opportunities for working spouses, school systems with fewer resources, and offer lower salaries that make it harder to pay off student debt. But many medical schools have created rural training programs to attract and retain students to rural practice. We're highlighting just a few of them here. 

But we'd also like to hear from you: does your institution have a successful program to attract and retain a rural healthcare workforce? 

• In 2017, University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine received the AAMC Spencer Foreman Community Service Award in acknowledgement of the institution's leading work in retaining physicians to work in rural communities. Learn about what works for the Sanford School of Medicine.
• University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences Rural Opportunities in Medical Education (ROME) program sends medical students to live and learn in rural communities.
• University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health' Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine takes third and fourth year students to do their clinical experiences at regional sites that serve as gateways to rural communities.
• The Rural Physician Associate Program at the University of Minnesota Medical School places third-year medical students in nine-month rural immersions and has been around for 50 years. 
• University of Kansas School of Medicine Scholars in Rural Health program identifies and encourages undergraduate students from rural parts of the state to apply for the program. Qualified candidates are guaranteed admission to the medical school contingent on successfully completing college. 

A recent AAMC study examined what moves physicians to work in rural areas. Researchers found that rural origin is a powerful and reliable predictor for rural practice, and that new and experienced physicians have different priorities regarding location choice. Physicians choosing rural practice locations are more likely to be motivated by compensation, the resemblance of the environment to the one they grew up in, patient needs, and pre-negotiated service obligations or visa/immigration status. They are less likely to attribute their location choice to social network proximity. 

And, of course, the National Health Service Corps is an essential funder of federal scholarship and loan repayment programs for physicians who work in underserved rural, tribal and urban communities. Read more about NHSC recipients.

Encouraging young doctors to take up rural practice is challenging. Rural areas may have fewer opportunities for working spouses, school systems with fewer resources, and offer lower salaries that make it harder to pay off student debt. But many medical schools have created rural training programs to attract and retain students to rural practice. We're highlighting just a few of them here. 

But we'd also like to hear from you: does your institution have a successful program to attract and retain a rural healthcare workforce? 

• In 2017, University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine received the AAMC Spencer Foreman Community Service Award in acknowledgement of the institution's leading work in retaining physicians to work in rural communities. Learn about what works for the Sanford School of Medicine.
• University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences Rural Opportunities in Medical Education (ROME) program sends medical students to live and learn in rural communities.
• University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health' Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine takes third and fourth year students to do their clinical experiences at regional sites that serve as gateways to rural communities.
• The Rural Physician Associate Program at the University of Minnesota Medical School places third-year medical students in nine-month rural immersions and has been around for 50 years. 
• University of Kansas School of Medicine Scholars in Rural Health program identifies and encourages undergraduate students from rural parts of the state to apply for the program. Qualified candidates are guaranteed admission to the medical school contingent on successfully completing college. 

A recent AAMC study examined what moves physicians to work in rural areas. Researchers found that rural origin is a powerful and reliable predictor for rural practice, and that new and experienced physicians have different priorities regarding location choice. Physicians choosing rural practice locations are more likely to be motivated by compensation, the resemblance of the environment to the one they grew up in, patient needs, and pre-negotiated service obligations or visa/immigration status. They are less likely to attribute their location choice to social network proximity. 

And, of course, the National Health Service Corps is an essential funder of federal scholarship and loan repayment programs for physicians who work in underserved rural, tribal and urban communities. Read more about NHSC recipients.