Illinois Medicine

week community-based project. One RMED student did his project with the Karuk tribe, for example, going to high schools to talk to the students about health careers. Glasser says the preceptorships foster understand- ing of Native American health care and culture for RMED students, in addition to providing relevant clinical and community experiences for Native American students. RMED has memorandums of understanding with 30 rural Illinois hospitals that provide accommodations for students and could provide preceptorships for Native American (and European) students, although Native American students more typically will do preceptorships within their own tribal health care systems. The RMED program also has a growing international presence. Students from Europe have also become interested in RMED to study and the program helped start a medical school four years ago in rural southern Thailand. The program is working on relationships in South and Central America as well. Overseas, RMED has a partnership with the University of Skovde in Sweden. It's a professional exchange with plans to have faculty visit and students visit back and forth. The Swedish university is known for com- munity and geriatric care and serves rural communities. "We're able to expose our students to different health care models," says Hana Hinkle, MPH, associate director for the National Center for Rural Health Professions. Faculty from Sweden have come to the COM Rockford and are planning another visit this fall. "We hope to visit Sweden soon to identify areas of research and further collaboration between faculty as well as additional training opportunities for our students," Hinkle says. "The initial faculty exchange has been exploratory in nature, but we have written in our agreement that research, collaborative grant applications and lecturing are all future directions we hope to take the partnership." "We are currently working on the student exchange component where Swedish health-professions students would spend several weeks in Rockford and in rural communities in Illinois working with our rural hospital and public health partners to conduct community-based research," she adds. COM Rockford students would do the same in Sweden, with an accent on interprofessional and team-based care, behavioral health and geriatric care. The goal is to start the student exchange process by spring 2018. "It's a phenomenal program," says Rockford Regional Dean Alex Stagnaro-Green, MD, MHPE, speaking broadly about RMED. "It's one of the best, if not the best, rural medicine training programs in the country. We're very proud of our growing program and supportive of it, not just here in Rockford but at UIC as well. And we plan on continuing and expanding in any way we can." I L L I N O I S M E D I C I N E | 29 the graphics engineers find boundaries such as where the muscle or bone lie in an image, in relation to other parts of the anatomy. Bramlet, who sets up the images that surgeons see, based on his extensive experience in MRI imaging, says there are a handful of such systems in operation across the U.S. now, but the issue remains the quality of the results. "Quality control — I don't want to leave that to anyone else," he says. "You have to understand the anatomy, imaging modality and the translational tools we use for segmentation." Still, the virtual reality field is on the verge of exploding as more surgeons see its utility — and the College of Medicine Peoria is leading the exploration of this new frontier. RMED Program Branches Out CELEBR ATING ITS 25TH YEAR IN 2017, the Rural Medical Education (RMED) Program, one of the great success stories at the College of Medi- cine Rockford, is exploring new frontiers of its own.. Over the years it has graduated about 300 students, with 75 percent remaining in a rural area after graduation. And rural areas in Illinois need doctors: While 20 percent of all Illinoisans live in rural areas, less than 10 percent of the state's doctors practice there. The rich history and uncommon success of the RMED program has been a springboard to expansion as the program reaches out to new populations outside of Illinois and even overseas. RMED now sponsors the Native Ameri- can Pathways Program, which seeks to train Native Americans who return to serve their communities. The program had its first Native American student enroll this year. Of all the physicians in the U.S., about 0.5 percent are Native American, says Jenna Vater, MA, program coordinator for the Native American Pathways Program. Three-fourths of rural Native Americans live in federally defined Health Professional Shortage Areas, as well. "So if we can get Native Americans who have an understanding of the cultural nuances to stay in their commu- nities, that's really the goal of this program. We want them to stay and improve health outcomes in their community," Vater says. "Our philosophy has always been grow your own," says Michael Glasser, PhD, associate dean of the National Center for Rural Health Professions and the RMED program, the flagship program under the national center umbrella. "You can never have a successful program without finding people who come from these rural areas." Right now, the program is working in Wind River, Wyoming, with the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes, and with the Karuk people in California. Vater hopes to add others. "The need is very high," she says. "In 2016, there were 553 Native American students who applied to medical school, but only 194 applicants actually enrolled," she says. "We need these doctors for multiple reasons. Patients are more likely to go to a doctor from their same background. They seem to trust somebody from their own community more. "It's also about having a role model for future generations," she adds. "A lot of kids don't know that becoming a doctor is even possible for them. Many of the Native American kids have never seen a Native American doctor in their lives. Having someone to look up to is very important." Vater says RMED is open to working with any tribe in order to set up preceptorships in their communities. Students are required to do a 16- The Native American Pathways Program at the COM's Rockford campus, part of the Rural Medical Education (RMED) Program, trains Native Americans to return home and practice in their home communities (left). Rockford Regional Dean Alex Stagnaro- Green, MD, MPHE, (right) formally announces a professional exchange with the University of Skovde in Sweden to expose learners to different models of care.

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