SUU Center for Rural Health

"When I was a Student at SUU, I had an internship in the Center for Rural Health. One of my jobs was to work with medical students who were in Southern Utah on clinical rotations--now I am one of them!!" Dr. Ryan Bell is an SUU graduate and a medical resident in Pediatrics.

The Utah Center for Rural Health has been the driving force behind a new program at Southern Utah University that targets pre-nursing and allied health students. Spring semester 2008 will include the addition of Science 2120, a service-learning based class for these students. "Students will spend an hour each week, in a classroom setting, with a variety of guest speakers who will discuss various healthcare professions," explains program coordinator Rita Osborn. "Additionally, they will spend two hours in community based health care service." The goal of the program is to better acquaint students to the demands and requirements of a healthcare career, as well as to open up the wide variety of health professions available in the health care industry. Many students are familiar with only nursing and fail to explore careers such as clinical lab technology, respiratory therapy, occupational therapy, and many other healthcare careers that, like nursing, are experiencing workforce shortages.

Two other elements of this program include a student-directed club and an academic enrichment program that will be held in the Maymester summer school session. This program will give students better study skills, critical thinking skills, test taking strategies, assertiveness training and other key elements that will help them succeed academically. With a focus on rural students who choose health care professions, this program will work with high school counselors to help recruit the type of student who wil lmost benefit from this kind of program and encourage them to choose SUU. "Our ultimate goal is to recruit rural students, train them well and hope that they will return to their rural communitites to help fill the shortages, " states the center's executive director, Dennis Moser, "This program will certainly help achieve that goal."

Providing rural high school students with information about health careers and educational programs is a daunting task when the 45 high schools served by the SUU Center for Rural Health are spread over a 65,000 square mile area. The Utah Rural Outreach Program is one of several partnerships with the University of Utah Medical School that make this possible.

Medical Students take time away from classes to visit rural high schools and teach students about health careers, training programs and medical school. The visits are scheduled and coordinated by SUU Center for Rural Health's Youth Programs Coordinator, Carrie Torgersen. In her eight years at SUU, Carrie has developed a relationship with high schools and the Utah State Office of Education that enables her to effectively coordinate these types of programs.

In October, presentations were made at six schools in the Uintah Basin including Altamont and Duchesne. This month, presentations were made at six schools in the Southeast including Navajo Mountain and Monticello. By the end of the school year, presentations will have been made at all 45 high schools.

Utah Center for Rural Health

Southern Utah University

351 W. University Blvd, ELC 115

Cedar City, UT 84721