Humphrey, NE

Cir. W. 1,389

March 25, 1999

The University of Nebraska Medical Center Department of Family Medicine is celebrating the 50^th anniversary of its rural preceptorship program - one of the first in the United States, UNMC will honor 134 rural family medicine physicians from 58 communities in Nebraska at a luncheon March 26 during the Nebraska Academy of Family Physicians annual meeting at the Doubletree Hotel in Omaha.

Started in 1949 as an elective and then required since 1971, the program provides medical students experience in a rural medical setting. Rural preceptorships are now required for third-year medical students to spend at least eight weeks in communities outside Omaha and Lincoln.

"It is important for medical schools to provide a rural, primary care training experience," said Paul Paulman, M.D., UNMC Department of Family Medicine and director of Family Medicine and director of the family medicine preceptorship. "This is especially true in Nebraska where many of the people in our state live in rural and urban areas which are medically underserved."

More than 3,000 medical students and more than 1,000 physicians from Nebraska communities of 650 to 40,000 have participated in training medical students, Dr. Paulman said.

Rural physicians involved in the program spend more than 50,000 hours per year with medical students, he said. UNMC’s program is the fourth oldest in the country and at eight weeks, is the longest required rural rotation. There are 134 preceptors currently in the program in Nebraska.

"Our preceptors give their time voluntarily to promote the education of future physicians," Dr. Paulman said. "In addition, they house and feed our students."

He said students gain a variety of experiences, from diagnosing and treating ear infections to delivering babies. They also improve their communication skills with patients and their families, learn the business side of managing a healthcare practice, and learn about the people of the community.

Medical students see an average of 15 to 20 patients a day during their preceptorship. Students consistently rate the experience the most valuable clinical experience of their training, Dr. Paulman said.

UNMC to Honor Rural Physicians in Celebration of 50^th Anniversary of Rural Medical Training Program "in a rural preceptorship, the students don’t have to compete to see patients and do procedures," he said. "The experience John Wilcox, M.D., had while in Aurora, Nebraska, inspired him to join a practice at the Aurora Memorial Health Clinic after he completed his training. Dr. Wilcox has been on staff at the clinic for 26 years and also serves as a preceptor - training other future health professionals.

"My roommate came here for his preceptorship and that’s how I decided," said Dr. Wilcox. "I remember when I came here it was cold. So cold my car battery froze solid. When I first got here as a medical student, there were three doctors here. We had a great time."

The experience is also worthwhile for the physicians who help train the medical students.

"The biggest value we get is to see students mature," said K. C. Bagby, M.D., a physician who for 35 years has been with the Blair Clinic in Blair, Nebraska. "The students get here and you can see they are questioning themselves, but by the time they leave then have grown in self-confidence. The experience also keeps us on our toes because there are a lot of things the students know more details about than us, such as new procedures."

Robert Hanlon, M.D., of the Chadron Medical Clinic in Chadron, Nebraska, said he and his colleagues enjoy the experience. "It is a delightful reward as a preceptor to be able to help these young students with the enthusiasm that they demonstrate. We also benefit by their presence in that the students tend to bring new ideas and information to us and it helps us in our never-ending quest to keep up with new information as much as possible."

UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the state. Through its commitment to research, education and patient care, UNMC has established itself as one of the country’s leading centers for cancer research and treatment and solid organ transplantation. More than $34 million in research grants and contracts are awarded to UNMC scientists annually. In addition, UNMC’s educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution.

Among those physicians to be honored are Drs. Anthony Kusek, John Mazour, Brad Hupp and Joel Travis of Albion; Dr. Timothy Widhalm of Aurora; Dr. Milton Zadina of Columbus; Drs. Timothy Davy, John Huscher and Richard Dane Robinson of Norfolk.