Sowing seeds for rural medicine

Indiana AHEC is a great example of public-private partnership that benefits all citizens. Through the leadership of IU and IU School of Medicine, academic resources, federal and state grants, coupled with community support, and the recent vital support of the Indiana legislature, IN AHEC has the organization and fiscal resources to address some of our compelling health needs. The IN Commission on Higher Education has now been authorized by the legislature to address the need for a school of public helath for Indiana which most public health leaders believe would complement and support the work of AHEC and significantly lever Indiana's efforts to improve the health of Hoosiers. Investments in AHEC, the state's public health system, including a school of public health, will help IN improve its health indicators which for decades have lagged behind most states in the U.S. Thanks to the Indianapolis Star for sharing the good news about IN AHEC.

I would be curious to know how many Drs have chosen rural medicine because of the efforts of IN AHEC. I have never seen a report that shows that AHEC has ever convinced a physician to practice in a rural area. IN AHEC spends money on camps, programs, staff offices etc that supposedly encourage medical students to practice in rural ares , but it appears that this large amount of taxpayer money is being spent on a bureaucratic "jobs program" with meager results. The money might be better used by cutting out the "middle man"(i.e. IN AHEC) and paying a financial incentive directly to physicians to practice in rural Indiana.

We piloted a program at the community college that gave a certificate to Medical Assistants for going into the schools where the school health nurse was stretched to a maximum. The Medical Assistant certificate program included 3 online courses(School Law, School Health Assisting, and Disease Prevention). Then they did a co-op in the schools and did screenings, health campaigns, health bulletin boards, etc.
It worked well in rural areas that had low school nurses.