This month, two third-year medical students began clinical rotations in primary care and obstetrics and gynecology at Sutter Amador Hospital in the town of Jackson. Sutter Amador is the third official site beyond the UC Davis Sacramento campus where the School of Medicine will train its students as the next generation of rural physicians.
"We are thrilled to have this new partnership with UC Davis," said Anne Platt, CEO for Sutter Amador Hospital. "Being a training and teaching site for future physicians is win-win for us. Our physicians and staff get to work with bright medical students who are passionate about health care. In return, these students will experience the unique and special qualities of rural medicine. We think they'll find their time here fulfilling, and we are especially hopeful that it will lead them to practice in a rural community some day, maybe even here in Jackson."
By 2015, experts predict the state will face a significant shortage of physicians, with rural communities struggling to provide health care with fewer doctors per resident than in urban areas. Rural-PRIME is part of the University of California's Programs in Medical Education, or PRIME, which is designed to produce physician leaders who are trained in and committed to helping California's medically underserved communities. By next year, UC Davis School of Medicine will have nearly 50 students enrolled in the program.
Rural residents often lack access to the full spectrum of medical services that urban populations enjoy. Most rural areas around the state face the challenge of recruiting and retaining enough primary care physicians to serve the needs of their communities. Access to specialty care is an even more difficult issue, with many rural patients having poorer outcomes than their urban counterparts on several health measures including cancer-related deaths. Rural-PRIME was specifically developed to address the health-care disparities frequently found in less populated or remote areas of the state.
As part of Rural-PRIME, UC Davis is partnering with other health systems in the state that are committed to improving rural health, passionate in their advocacy for change in the rural health-care delivery system and willing to become teaching sites for medical students. Jackson, along with the mountain town of Truckee and the central valley community of Reedley, are the first designated Rural-PRIME sites.
Students will spend from four to eight weeks immersed in rural clinical settings, experiencing some of the unique challenges and benefits that only those types of communities can offer. The students are also given opportunities to integrate technology into their curriculum and training through distance learning and the use of telemedicine. High-speed telecommunications technologies such as telemedicine help bridge the rural gaps in access to quality health care and are a key element in Rural-PRIME training.
"Increasing the number of physicians who plan to practice in rural areas, and training those future doctors in the use of technology to provide specialty care for their patients, are two crucial ways to improve health-care access," said Thomas Nesbitt, professor of family and community medicine and associate vice chancellor for strategic technologies and alliances at UC Davis Health System. "Sutter Amador Hospital is a model of high-quality rural health care and is a good example for our students. With their adoption of the electronic intensive care unit, they are leaders in the use of technology and quality care, which offers an ideal learning environment for future physicians."