Rural Medical Education 2001 Conference Summary

Over 70 people attended the 2 day session in Dallas. NRHA did a wonderful job of sponsorship and organization. We now have elected leaders and a direction. I was impressed with the dedication and diversity of those attending. Many are in isolated situations, not frontier, but really isolated in that they are one of the only ones in their institutions and/or states who are pursuing rural medical education.

Thanks to Jim Norton, Don Pathman, Deb Phillips, Mike French, Hilda Heady, Wail Malaty, Sarah Snider, Glynda Sharp, Jim Calvert, John Wheat, John Brandon, Wayne Myers, Lori Byrd, George Henning, Callie Cason, Alan Gill, and other who presented or moderated. Long distance award goes to Dale Dewar from Saskatchewan. With Dale and many others, I really enjoyed striking up a a reality relationship beyond list serve and email communcations.

Special thanks to Wayne Myers for starting us off on a good note. Any talk that I can get 2 or 3 good quotes is an excellent one. I particularly like his words, "I can see with great clarity, unencumbered by information." I appreciated the work of Sarah Snider, Jim Norton, Earl Kemp, and Gar Elison at the GME funding session. Jim did an excellent job moderating this and another session and all four are real guru’s of GME funding. Even those who have been to dozens of similar sessions learned much.

Don Pathman did a great job of keeping us on track in research. Better truth may make it more difficult for Wayne to expound, but it will give us scientific reasons to improve training and support our advocacy. Don keeps teaching us that we have to keep recruitment and retention separate. I am a slow learner but I keep listening.

Recruitment is rural background and rural practice interest admissions. Regardless of background, about half of rural physicians are still in their rural community after 6 years. Retention is training factors, community-physician relationship. There is room for a bit of overlap but this is not supported by the research.

Hilda Heady and the Partnership in West Virginia is awesome. After the WV medical schools were made accountable to the state, the Partnership has taken over to set up some substantial interventions in education and health care.

Other themes were identified for exploration and future sessions. Allopathic and Osteopathic Linkages, Dilemmas of Clinician Educators, more research efforts…

Community-RME – True Partnerships, work by the group on the next generation of rural medical educators through fellowships, etc.

Provider Retention – Curriculum to enhance social skills and confidence, advocacy for research support, research agenda to include training modalities and methods

Student Recruitment – Admissions Advocates, Rural med ed networks, Raise image of rural med ed training and market what is working, Become involved in policy making process

Linking RME – Share series of successes in catalog and web, identify partners, how to do RTT program

Curriculum – Rural med ed web site with sections on curriculum, hospitals and lifestyle, education models, case based info and examples, links, bulletin board.

Finding and Funding Preceptors – RRC more flexible, Outcomes data from rural programs, marketing to people in pipeline and building bridges with groups

Reimbursement – Inventory of all GME funding sources, Meeting with HCFA and Fiscal intermediaries ASAP, take areas needing change to Congress and legislatures

The winners, the areas of concentration for RME include

1. Web Based Tools
2. Federal Advocacy
3. Advocacy State
4. Research Agenda

Involving rural practitioners much as possible was also voted and passed by the group – for the Membership Subgroup

The Federal Advocacy Group already has plans for a HCFA meeting to explore funding concerns and solutions. To involve both HCFA and fiscal intermediaries. To improve delays in inconsistencies.

We will also set up liaisons with various organizations.

The Partnerships and RTT How to proposals received fewer votes, but there is progress in these areas and good models and contacts: Partnerships Hilda Heady and How To Rural GME – Jim G in South Carolina

Work groups to improve expand web-based tools, admissions, student interest, and make sure students know about the major differences between rural training methods and typical programs.

Efforts to increase the membership in all areas, especially practitioners.

Upcoming liaisons with AAFP Rural Committee, Student Resident Meeting, etc.

Research Agenda to improve targeting for admissions, help understand how retention is different than recruitment and what improves retention.

Next events

AAFP Student Resident Meeting – need program directors, coordinators, and others to participate in Rural Presentation if they will be in KC on Friday July 27^th

Next year meeting at NRHA at Kansas City May 15 - 18. Rural Medical Educators will meet starting May 15 in the AM and continue with sessions during the conference. This year's NRHA Annual already had some excellent RME sessions throughout the conference.