In The Spotlight: Regional Campuses Expand Opportunities for Students and Achieve Statewide Mission Impact
The Lafayette Regional Campus is leading LSU Health’s efforts to address critical healthcare shortages in rural Louisiana.
There is a tremendous need to increase the number of primary care providers in rural areas of Louisiana. Fifty-seven of the state’s 64 parishes and 32 percent of its population is classified as rural. Physician shortages in rural areas result in inadequate access to medical care for residents.
The Rural Scholars Track was created in 2003 to directly address this dire physician
shortage. The RST is designed to recruit highly motivated students who are committed
to practicing primary-care medicine in rural areas of Louisiana.
Research has shown that physicians who practice in rural areas were more than likely
raised there. Physicians who received part of their education or training in rural
areas have a substantially greater than average propensity to set up practices in
rural areas.
The LSU School of Medicine waives tuition for students who go into family medicine,
pediatrics, OB-GYN or surgery and commit to practicing in a rural area of Louisiana
for five years upon completion of their residency. As medical school students, they
spend two years in New Orleans followed by two years in Lafayette with a preceptorship.
“The preceptorship provides the rural scholars with in-depth knowledge of the different
primary care specialties,” said Linda Oge, MD, Section Chief of Family Medicine for
the Lafayette regional campus. “The result is a strong understanding of the clinical
and social aspects of their future career. They spend one day a week throughout their
training shadowing a rural practitioner.”
Fourth-year medical student Ashley West, who considers Lafayette her hometown, always
knew she wanted to practice primary medicine in a rural setting.
“The program was a great fit for my career goals, with added bonuses of the tuition
waiver and the ability to train in Lafayette,” West said. “The campus provides a small
team learning environment and many opportunities for interaction with faculty and
residents, providing a one-on-one experience that I have really enjoyed and was a
huge benefit to my education. The faculty and residents were always very approachable
and eager to teach.”
West added, “The Rural Scholars Track gave me the opportunity to find mentorship with
a rural family physician through a weekly preceptorship. I got to see first-hand how
valuable rural primary care is to Louisiana and confirm my desire to pursue rural
family medicine.”
Dr. Danielle Fuselier graduated from the Rural Scholars Track and the Family Medicine
Residency in Lafayette and has been practicing in Crowley for almost two years.
“I truly enjoyed my residency and felt very prepared to practice medicine. I highly
recommend the program to anyone who wants to practice primary care,” Fuselier said.
“The program set me up for success. I trained with a physician in Rayne and upon graduation
already knew some of the other physicians and even some of the patients. I highly
recommend the Rural Scholars Track and any of the residency programs in Lafayette.”
“I really enjoy being a rural physician. You really get to know your patients and
their whole families. You see your patients at the grocery store and at church. The
local community is so supportive,” she added.
In addition to the Rural Scholars Track, the Lafayette Regional Campus also hosts
traditional medical students who rotate through the campus for four weeks in orthopedics,
ophthalmology, OB-GYN, ENT, anesthesia, surgery, and cardiology. These rotations provide
opportunities for hands-on, in-depth training.
“It’s a true win-win because the patients get tremendous attention through tiered
care, from the student, to the resident, to the faculty member and the residents get
greater autonomy and in-depth training,” said Dr. Oge.
The Lafayette Regional Campus is also home to a Sports Medicine Fellowship Program,
which has continuously drawn talent from all over the country and matched top applicants.
“We have attracted amazing fellows, including Dr. Shaawn Ali, who eventually became
a faculty member. Amanda Phillips-Savoy is the Sports Medicine fellowship director
and a former LSUHSC-UHC family medicine resident who now teaches college students,
medical students and residents in athletic training as she serves as the University
of Louisiana Lafayette (ULL) Team Physician,” Dr. Oge said. “These individuals come
from all over and now practice here. The fellows work with ULL and high school athletic
teams.”
The regional campuses play a critical role in living out our mission of education,
patient care, research and community outreach. In the September issue of The Pulse
we will focus on the Baton Rouge Regional Campus.