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Rural Iowa Provider Education (RIPE) Program
Bright lights, big city - it's not for everyone.
Des Moines University and its Area Health Education Center program are proactively addressing critical shortages of health care providers and practitioners in Iowa's rural communities through the creation of the Rural Iowa Provider Education (RIPE) Program.
The RIPE Program provides specialized education, training and tools to better prepare students for service in rural, underserved areas of Iowa. Initially, this program is focused toward Des Moines University's osteopathic medical students and the primary care physician shortage but will eventually provide opportunities for additional disciplines and academic institutions.
If you are inclined to practice medicine in rural Iowa after residency, this program is for you!
Rural Medicine Educational Pathway:
Picture yourself practicing medicine in America's heartland. Rural Iowa has a critical shortage of physicians in primary care and other specialties. You can be part of the solution, and we can help you get there.
Why the Shortage?
While many studies rank Iowa near the top when comparing the quality of healthcare, Iowa's rural communities need new physicians to treat the acute and chronic medical conditions of the rural population. Even though the practice of medicine in rural America is very rewarding, today's medical student graduates are moving away from primary care specialties, and even more so from medical practice in rural communities. Although DMU continues to educate medical students interested in rural primary care medicine, obstacles such as the medical education debt load, professional isolation and lifestyle often discourage students from pursuing a career in rural medicine. But there are answers. Des Moines University and its Area Health Education Center program are addressing these issues through expanded relationships with rural physicians, hospitals, and clinics, to demonstrate the rewarding experience of rural medicine.
The Opportunity - Scholarship & Service
Because one of the known barriers for students choosing a rural medical practice is the tuition debt load from medical school, DMU has made an on-going commitment to annually provide the equivalent of six (6) full tuition scholarships to students enrolled in the Rural Medicine Educational Pathway.
To be eligible for the scholarship, you will commit
- To the completion of all Rural Medicine Educational Pathway curriculum requirements
- To enter a family medicine, general pediatrics or general internal medicine residency upon graduation from DMU. It is preferable, but not required, that the residency program be in the State of Iowa
- To maintain a full-time medical practice in an Iowa community with a population of 10,000 or less which has been approved by the COM Dean at DMU and to provide primary medical care services which are defined as either family medicine, general pediatrics or general internal medicine for a period of up to four years, or one year for each year of full-tuition scholarship equivalents received. Emphasis will be placed on locations within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Primary Care Health Profession Shortage Areas, Medically Underserved Areas, and the Governor's Medical Underserved Populations Areas
Interested? Here's how the program works
The Curriculum Content
As a Des Moines University osteopathic medical student, the Rural Medicine Educational Pathway offers you an innovative educational curriculum to develop and support your interest in rural primary care medicine. In addition to the standard DMU osteopathic medical school curriculum, the Rural Medicine Educational Pathway curriculum will include the following:
- A series of three hour lectures or meetings on one Saturday morning each month during the first and second years of medical school. Some topics covered during these sessions will include, but are not limited to:
- Professionalism in the rural medicine practice
- How to build a rural practice incorporating the use of osteopathic manipulation
- The use of telemedicine and teleradiology
- The rural physician as the team doctor
- Rural medicine case studies
- End of life and other geriatric issues in rural medicine
- Other topics pertinent to rural medicine
- A six-week primary care preceptorship in rural Iowa coupled with a reflective writing project in the summer between the first and second year of medical school.
- At least fifty percent (50%) of the third and fourth year clinical rotations scheduled and completed in Iowa rural communities
- Mentorship by Iowa physicians currently practicing rural medicine
The Requirements
As a Rural Medicine Educational Pathway student, you will be required to:
- Maintain enrollment in the College of Osteopathic Medicine with passing grades in all courses and remain in good academic standing at all times
- Become active in at least one primary care student club or organization on campus
- Become active in at least one DMU Area Health Education Center program for K-12 and/or undergraduate students on campus
- Complete the Rural Medicine Educational Pathway Curriculum
- Attend the Saturday morning lectures and meetings (described above)
- Complete a six-week primary care preceptorship in rural Iowa coupled with a reflective writing project in the summer between the first and second year of medical school
- Schedule and complete at least fifty percent (50%) of your third and fourth year clinical rotations in Iowa rural communities
How to Apply
Any student, upon acceptance into the DMU College of Osteopathic Medicine, is eligible to apply to the Rural Medicine Educational Pathway Program. A maximum of twenty (20) students will be enrolled in the program. The equivalent of six (6) full tuition scholarships will be awarded annually. These will be awarded as full-tuition or half-tuition scholarships and will be renewable for up to four years.
The application will be made available to you upon acceptance. Applications will be reviewed as they are submitted and decisions provided within 4-6 weeks. If you are awarded a Rural Medicine Educational Pathway scholarship, you must execute the Des Moines University Rural Medicine Educational Pathway Scholarship Agreement.
Want More Information?
COM Admission
515-271-1499
800-240-2767 ext. 1499
Doadmit@dmu.edu
