Rural Community Service Leaves an Impression

	A town park in Chewelah, Wash.

Each year, a few selected third-year medical students training in rural areas construct their own community service projects. It’s a way for the students to reach beyond the clinic and join the life of the community around them.

In 2002, students staffed informational booths at summer health fairs, organized successful community forums for health-care professionals and patients, volunteered in clinics, improved hospital procedures, and engaged school kids on health issues.

All the students left an imprint in the community that they called home for half a year. Many of the service programs they established continue, even though the students have moved on.

These projects were part of the WWAMI Rural Integrated Training Experience (WRITE), one of a variety of UW programs that train medical students in rural areas of the five-state WWAMI region. The WRITE program provides third-year students with six months of extended education in rural community practices, where they work individually with physicians and other health-care professionals.

“This is a one-on-one experience,” explained Dr. James Blackman, clinical professor of family medicine and assistant dean for regional affairs and rural health. “It’s you and your teacher and you’re in the practice of medicine, doing and learning side-by-side.”

This training model gives WRITE students more hands-on experience than in standard clerkships. They get a chance to help deliver babies and assist at surgeries, and have more responsibility for directing their education. The 10 students selected each year are self-starters.

Medical student Sarah Hollopeter worked in a family practice in Hailey, Idaho. She is keenly interested in women’s health issues and in preventive medicine. Because her grandmother suffers from osteoporosis, Hollopeter wanted to provide people with information about preventing, diagnosing, and treating bone loss.

Hollopeter used several approaches to get her message across. She learned that her local hospital had a new but underutilized DEXA scanner for monitoring bone density and diagnosing osteoporosis. Hollopeter promoted its use to local physicians not yet accustomed to making routine referrals. She convinced the hospital to offer a discount on DEXA scans during May, national osteoporosis prevention month. She ordered and distributed free information materials to local clinics. She set up a booth at a local weekend health fair to talk to people in the community. Hollopeter, who was a science teacher before she went to medical school, also visited the local schools and engaged the children in analyzing the calcium in their diets and understanding the role it plays in bone development. She linked the hospital with the National Osteoporosis Foundation, which continues to send prevention pamphlets.

The time Hollopeter spent in the schools was her favorite part of the project. As a side benefit she gave seventh and eighth graders a glimpse at what it means to be studying medicine. That, too, will leave an imprint in Hailey, Idaho.

Every year, the American Medical Association Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the American Medical Association (AMA) works in partnership with the AMA Alliance to raise funds for medical students and medical schools across the country. The UW School of Medicine is fortunate to be among the recipients of these gifts, which are used to help support students with financial needs and to finance such programs as the WWAMI Rural Integrated Training Experience (WRITE) and other programs that enhance students’ experiences at WWAMI training sites.