Each school year, students from all of Ohio’s medical schools are invited to apply to participate in the annual Rural Health Scholars Retreat. Held in Logan County, Ohio, the weekend retreat is dedicated to addressing significant issues in rural health policy, rural medical education, rural practice, and/or rural research. The goal is to attract students to excellence in clinical practice, in research, in advocacy, and in medical education. Each Rural Health Scholars Retreat is open to any student with an interest in generalist rural practice, whether family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, emergency medicine, or general surgery. Overall, the Rural Health Scholars Retreat Program intends to:
To date, there have been eleven Rural Health Scholars Retreats:
“Inaugural Annual Rural Health Scholars Retreat”
January 24-25, 2003
Guests: Harry Graber MD, Cardiologist and rural clinician-scholar, West Liberty, Ohio;
Steven Wilhide, Executive Director, National Rural Health Association
“Country Doctors in Literature”
Annual Rural Health Scholars Retreat 2003-2004
January 30-31, 2004
Special Guest: Johanna Shapiro PhD, Professor of Family Medicine and Director of
Medical Humanities, University of California Irvine College of Medicine
“Community Asset Mapping”
Annual Rural Health Scholars Retreat 2004-2005
October 1-2, 2004
Special Guest: Ann Peton, Cartographer, Community Information Resource Center,
Rural Policy and Research Institute; http://circ.rupri.org/
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"Mental Health in Rural Communities: Challenges, oppotunities, and resources"
Annual Rural Health Scholars Retreat 2007-2008
October 5 and 6, 2007
Special Guests: Don Hilty MD, a psychiatrist and native of Logan County, Ohio, now Director of the Rural Program in Medical Education (Rural-PRIME) at the University of California Davis School of Medicine, and Cheryl Levine PsyD, clinical psychologist and behavioral science coordinator for the OSU Rural Program.
“Designing Your Own Path to Rural Practice”
Annual Rural Health Scholars Retreat 2010-2011
October 15 and16, 2010
Explored the myriad paths to preparing for rural practice, facilitated by Dr. Longenecker, current residents, and two RHS graduates now in rural practice, Eric Prenger MD, Family Medicine in Sidney, OH, and Terri Mucha MD, Family Medicine, in McCall, ID.
“What Does Scholarship Have to Do with Rural Practice?”
Annual Rural Health Scholars Retreat 2011-2012
October 14 and 15, 2011
Four physicians shared their scholarly pursuits in rural medicine, encouraging students to follow their example: Dr. Harry Graber, a rural cardiologist who helped in discovering the first genetically encoded cardiomyopathy; Dr. Lars Peterson, a prior Rural Health Scholar and now nationally recognized for his work in rural health systems research; Dr. David Loxterkamp, a family physician author from rural Maine, and Dr. Randall Longenecker, widely recognized for his expertise in rural medical education.
Appalachian Ohio: Health Care Challenges and Opportunities
Annual Rural Health Scholars Retreat 2012-2013
Logan, Ohio, November 9-11, 2012
The focus of this year’s retreat was the incredible challenges and opportunities afforded by rural practice in Appalachian Ohio. Four physicians from rural practice, a clinical psychologist, and nursing professor shared their perspectives throughout the course of a weekend marked with a traditional Appalachian string band performance, an introduction to the culture and landscape of Appalachia, a visit to a federally qualified health center in the least populous county in Ohio, a formal panel as well as informal conversations with all six rural practitioners, and a hike to Old Man’s Cave.
Publications and Presentations:
Longenecker R: “Rural Health Scholars,” in A Tour of Rural Medical Education, Annual Meeting of the Rural Medical Educators and Pre-conference to the NRHA Rural Health Policy Institute, Washington, DC, February 22, 2004.
Shapiro J, Longenecker R: “Country Doctors in Literature: Helping Medical Students Understand What Rural Practice is All About,” Acad Med 2005; 80: 724-727.
Longenecker R: “Rural Health Scholars: Attracting Students to Excellence in Generalist Practice,” STFM 33rd Annual Predoctoral Education Conference, Memphis, TN, January 27, 2007.(Family Medicine Digital Resources Library; 2007. Available from: http://www.fmdrl.org/)
