Four fourth-year medical students at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City are receiving hands-on clinical training in Great Bend this month.
The four students are receiving instruction from six Great Bend physicians. The supervising physicians and their students are: Chris Koster, MD, of Great Bend Children’s Clinic, is teaching Rachel Moses; Marta Edmonds, MD, also of Great Bend Children’s Clinic, is teaching Jessica Wallisch; Charles Keener, MD, of Central Kansas Family Practice, PA, is teaching John Wallisch; and Richard Preston, MD, James McReynolds, MD, and Jean Pringle, MD, of Great Bend Internists are teaching Anne Miller.
The students will be studying in Great Bend for four weeks as part of the School of Medicine’s required Rural Preceptorship Program.
The rural preceptorship allows senior medical students to integrate and apply the knowledge and skills learned in medical school. The setting introduces students to the stimulating challenges and opportunities of practicing primary care medicine in a rural community, said Michael Kennedy, MD, Associate Dean for Rural Health and director of the rural preceptorship.
Established by the Kansas Legislature, the Rural Preceptorship Program began training students in 1951 to ensure Kansas-trained physicians were prepared to serve the state’s substantial rural population. The program relies on volunteer faculty preceptors to host KU medical students, who introduce students to both the clinical experience and fully-integrated life of a rural physician.
“Regardless of their ultimate career choice, we hope our students gain an appreciation of how a primary care physician practicing in a rural setting balances their professional and personal responsibilities in a way that serves their community as a whole,” said Kennedy.
More information about rural preceptorships and rural education for medical students, including inquiries on becoming a volunteer faculty member, is available by contacting Debra Lea (Preceptorship Administrator) at (913) 588-8221.