Unique Program Pairs Med Students With Hoosier Family Docs
INDIANAPOLIS – The first year of medical school is loaded with labs, lectures and late-night study sessions, but this summer a select group of Indiana University School of Medicine students will learn clinical skills under the supervision of physicians throughout the state.
Twenty-eight medical students, all of whom just completed their first year of school, have been placed through the Family Medicine Scholars Consortium. The goal of this program, which began in 1999, is to encourage students to consider specializing in family medicine when they begin their careers. And for good reason: an estimated two-thirds of Indiana’s 92 counties are medically underserved or have a shortage of health-care professionals, according to the Indiana State Department of Health.
The consortium includes the IU Department of Family Medicine, Clarian Health Partners, Midwest Center for Rural Health (Terre Haute), St. Joseph’s Medical Center (South Bend), Indiana Academy of Family Physicians, Deaconess Hospital (Evansville) and Cinergy, an Indiana electric utility.
The students will be placed in eight-week-long practices, although some opt for four-week tours of duty to accommodate schedules. Their time is spent working directly with family practioners in their clinics, rotating through various departments at hospitals, assisting with research, and participating in projects at community-based social service agencies. Each student receives a stipend of between $1,500 to $3,000.
"Sponsors can tailor their programs to meet their individual needs, but all share a common goal," says Brenda O’Hara, M.D., director of pre-doctoral education in the Department of Family Medicine. "The mission is to expose young medical students to primary care in rural and underserved areas early on in their careers."
The Family Medicine Scholars Consortium often confirms students’ expectations when considering their future. That’s what happened to Chris Rickets, M.D., an IU School of Medicine graduate and past Cinergy Scholar recipient and a host physician in 2002.
"My experience working in a rural settting, solidified and broadened
my thoughts as to what family physicians do for a living, the far-reaching
nature of their work and their role in the community," says Dr. Ricketts,
who is in family practice in Fulton County, Ind.
###
Media Contacts: Jennifer Custer
317-972-0493
jcuster@iupui.edu
Nandini Shah
317-274-7722
pmrnews@iupui.edu
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
A STATEWIDE
RESOURCE
Phone
317 274 7722
Fax
317 278 8722