Rural Medicine Program Receives a Generous Boost
WARM students who participated in the fall 2022 Advanced Wilderness Life Support course learned to carry a mock-patient on a stretcher they had improvised using available supplies.
Photo courtesy of Aurora Baycare Medical Center
Recent studies reveal that, compared to those in urban communities, rural populations are overall sicker, poorer, and less likely to have health insurance. According to a 2021 report from the Wisconsin Council on Medical Education and Workforce, a mere 7 percent of physicians have rurally located practices. With a focus on repairing this significant disparity and providing high-quality care, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) developed the Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine (WARM), which launched in 2007. The program’s inaugural graduates began their training in 2011. Since the launch, WARM has been advancing care for underserved groups in underresourced settings.
“We recruit medical students who intend to practice rural medicine and help improve health in rural Wisconsin,” says Dr. Joseph Holt, director of WARM. “Our students emerge prepared for residencies in any medical specialty, as rural Wisconsin health systems need physicians in many areas, particularly family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics.”
A subset of the SMPH MD program, WARM accepts 26 medical students per year and requires a strong commitment to practice medicine in rural Wisconsin. Students complete the curriculum’s first phase on Madison’s main campus. During phase two, students sharpen their ultrasound skills in Marshfield and participate in a mock disaster drill in La Crosse. And in phase three, students travel to Green Bay for a course called Advanced Wilderness Life Support. They also fulfill clinical rotations in smaller communities for hands-on experience.
“The program matched my lifestyle and goals, including how and where I want to raise my family, all while striving to combat the growing shortage of providers in rural Wisconsin,” says WARM student Madeline Brown.
Those who have participated in WARM are having great success. Since the program’s unveiling, 14 classes and 300 graduates have made their way through WARM, of which 45.6 percent were matched to residencies in Wisconsin. Post-residency numbers are also high, with 91 percent practicing in Wisconsin and 52 percent practicing in rural Wisconsin. A promising 32 percent of WARM participants entered into emergency medicine, general surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, and psychiatry residencies, all of which are specialties in great demand in rural areas.
Programs such as WARM cannot thrive on talent alone. Philanthropic support makes all the difference for WARM’s current and ongoing success. Passionate alumna and retired psychiatrist Dr. Barbara Rohland has dedicated a generous estate gift that will provide future scholarships for those enrolled in WARM. While contemplating how she wanted these funds to be used, Rohland realized that she didn’t want to set limitations or require some kind of commitment from the recipients.
“Life has twists and turns, and someone who intends to live and practice in a rural area might marry someone in a highly specialized field that requires resources not available in a rural area in order to practice,” she shares. “In my case, I did research on access to and quality of mental health care to people who lived in rural areas. That is how I met my husband. I was often the first to volunteer to do outreach clinics — first by physically driving out to the community, and later via telemedicine. I never forgot where I was from because where I’m from helped shape who I became.”
Rohland — born and raised on a dairy farm near the Black River in rural north-central Wisconsin — is deeply committed to impacting future generations of medical students. “I hope this estate gift will leave a legacy — one that expresses how the university is a great place to learn and grow, that rural Wisconsin and the people who live there are important, and that access to quality medical care for those who live in rural areas is as important as it is for people in any other area of the state,” shares Rohland.
Share Your Story
Did UW Health or the UW School of Medicine and Public Health have a life-changing impact on you or someone you love? Be part of the Wisconsin Medicine story by inspiring others with your story. Share it now.