Three University of Nebraska Medical Center students, one resident physician and a longtime Nebraska preceptor recently spoke to the University of Nebraska Board of Regents about their rural rotation experiences. All hailed the program as one of the best learning opportunities offered by UNMC.
“It’s the best recruiting tool UNMC has,” said Kenneth Charles Bagby, M.D., a retired family physician and preceptor from Blair. The rural rotation lets the community shine and shows the students what life would be like if they chose to live and practice in a small town, Dr. Bagby said. It’s also a great confidence builder for the student. “I was always impressed with how the level of confidence in the students had grown during the six to eight weeks of the preceptorship,” he said.
As a preceptor Dr. Bagby had more than 200 students come through his clinic. Studies show that students who train in small communities are more likely to choose to practice in rural locations, said Paul Paulman, M.D., assistant dean in the UNMC College of Medicine. The amount of time students spend on rotations varies from discipline to discipline, but can last anywhere from four weeks to two months, he said. Students are usually sent on rotations between their second and third year of school, but the UNMC College of Medicine requires students in their first year to also participate in a rural rotation.
Four UNMC colleges – medicine, nursing, pharmacy and dentistry – as well as the School of Allied Health Professions, annually send students on rural rotations. There are more than 68 rotation sites around the state of Nebraska, with five that double as a rotation site for residents, Dr. Paulman said. The family medicine clinical preceptorship at UNMC emphasizes rural health care and is highly valued by the students.
“It was the best experience,” said Timothy Yates, a third year medical student, who did his rural rotation in Neligh. “In the rural setting you see the gamut of things – O.B., surgery, late night calls to the E.R. – more than you would in an urban setting,” Yates said. “You learn a lot in a little amount of time,” said Kristin Maricle, M.D., a family medicine resident at UNMC, who did rotations in North Platte and Broken Bow.
Tara Parr, who is studying to be a physician assistant, agrees. “All of the preceptors I spent time with made me feel like a part of the team, asking for my opinion on subjects and talking to me about cases,” said Parr, who did rotations in Sidney, McCook and Hastings. T
The experience has made Kristin Keebler, a graduate student in the UNMC College of Nursing, consider a career working in a rural community. “The community really makes you feel welcome,” Keebler said. All of the students expressed an interest in working in a rural setting.
UNMC is the only public health science center in the state. Its educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution. Through their commitment to education, research, patient care and outreach, UNMC and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, have established themselves as one of the country’s leading centers in cancer, transplantation biology, bioterrorism preparedness, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, genetics, biomedical technology and ophthalmology. UNMC’s research funding from external sources now exceeds $80 million annually and has resulted in the creation of more than 2,400 highly skilled jobs in the state. UNMC’s physician practice group, UNMC Physicians, includes 513 physicians in 50 specialties and subspecialties who practice primarily in The Nebraska Medical Center. For more information, go to UNMC’s Web site at www.unmc.edu.
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