Rural Medicine!

[VikingLegacy]

baleeted

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[deleted87716]

Apparently, reading the older posts isn't very popular, either.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=621030

If you guys want to liven things up, try posting something other than "this forum is dead."

 

[cabinbuilder]

I'm horrified. This forum should be full of life. I'm busting tail to get into University of Washington to do rural medicine. It must not be that popular of a medical pursuit!

Why would you be dying to go to U of Wash to do rural medicine?? That makes no sense at all. You can do rural medicine anytime once you are out practicing.

No one has time to comment because those of us in rural medicine are swamped with non-compliant, poor, medicaid patients who have no money for medicine. These people want everything for free, you can't get them into a specialist for sever issues because they are either private pay or medicaid and the specialist wants money up front that doesn't exist. Plus, all those year with closets of samples are over and now the drug reps just bring coupons !! Who wants a f***ing coupon? The patients just laugh. Many of my patients are from Mexico here illegally so they only take their meds half the time and who knows what they are taking from the Mexican border?? It's a huge mess.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy helping folks out here in the boonies but you couldn't pay me enough money to set foot at Univ of Wash. Go to a real school and get some real experience rather than hobnob with the stuck up WAMI crowd in the middle of the city. Yikes.

 

[GoodmanBrown]

Why would you be dying to go to U of Wash to do rural medicine?? That makes no sense at all. You can do rural medicine anytime once you are out practicing.

No one has time to comment because those of us in rural medicine are swamped with non-compliant, poor, medicaid patients who have no money for medicine. These people want everything for free, you can't get them into a specialist for sever issues because they are either private pay or medicaid and the specialist wants money up front that doesn't exist. Plus, all those year with closets of samples are over and now the drug reps just bring coupons !! Who wants a f***ing coupon? The patients just laugh. Many of my patients are from Mexico here illegally so they only take their meds half the time and who knows what they are taking from the Mexican border?? It's a huge mess.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy helping folks out here in the boonies but you couldn't pay me enough money to set foot at Univ of Wash. Go to a real school and get some real experience rather than hobnob with the stuck up WAMI crowd in the middle of the city. Yikes.

Man, one year makes quite a difference. (Posted 7/19/2009):

This is exactly what I am doing. Very excited to get back into rural life. Got a great contract, no weird clauses. great benefits, no overhead, guaranteed salary and only FP's in the community so no one is telling you "you can't do that since you are FP". My kind of place, loan repayment, good environment for my kids, lots of outdoor activities.

 

[cabinbuilder]

How true it is. Hah!!!! But you know what, I still enjoy what I do. It saddens me the state of health care these days. Plus when I wrote that last year I was in Montana and had a great job set up. Left for family reasons and am now in a different part of the country that isn't quite as nice. There are always people to take care of, I still get paid very well, the biggest thing for me was to have a happy family in the process since you can't take back misery.

 

[GoodmanBrown]

How true it is. Hah!!!! But you know what, I still enjoy what I do. It saddens me the state of health care these days. Plus when I wrote that last year I was in Montana and had a great job set up. Left for family reasons and am now in a different part of the country that isn't quite as nice. There are always people to take care of, I still get paid very well, the biggest thing for me was to have a happy family in the process since you can't take back misery.

I'm glad you still enjoy it. I'm sure some days are harder than others, and everyone needs to vent occasionally.

It's encouraging to hear that you still enjoy what you do. I'm just starting med school (dissection, yay! ) and interested in rural medicine myself.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

Cabinbuilder...

I am looking at doing rural medicine in Colorado. I am actually hoping to get into RVU's Rural/Wilderness program... Since you're in CO, I know what you're saying about the S of the border issue, and as I am from MN, I can say that most of CO is uninsured/under-insured by the standards in MN... It sounds like you were able to get the loan pay off $$ that is available, does it make it more worth your while? Any thoughts as to whether it's a good or bad idea? I really like the grandiose ideas I have about rural medicine, but I haven't been able to talk to anyone about it...

 

[cabinbuilder]

Cabinbuilder...

I am looking at doing rural medicine in Colorado. I am actually hoping to get into RVU's Rural/Wilderness program... Since you're in CO, I know what you're saying about the S of the border issue, and as I am from MN, I can say that most of CO is uninsured/under-insured by the standards in MN... It sounds like you were able to get the loan pay off $$ that is available, does it make it more worth your while? Any thoughts as to whether it's a good or bad idea? I really like the grandiose ideas I have about rural medicine, but I haven't been able to talk to anyone about it...

I was never able to get any loan assistance no matter how many programs I applied to ( I did 5 including NHSC). I'm really tired of doing hundreds of pages of paperwork in applications and getting nothing after doing mounds of paperwork all day with patients. Despite not have loan assistance I am able to pay my monthly payment ($1300) without any issues and it is not a hardship in any way.

I guess to answer your question. Don't pick a medical school because of a "rural" slant to it. It's really what you learn in residency that is going to make the difference for you in a rural setting. Not sure why you are looking just at Colorado for rural medicine. I have found it very difficult to get a stable position here and the pay really isn't competitive compared to other rural states. Look at Alaska, Texas, Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico, Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma for rural opportunites after you get out of residency.

Being a rural doctor means you know how to do most anything that comes through the door, can work a small ER, can cast, inject joint, splint, do biopsies, suture, take care of young/old, etc. You can choose not to do OB (I don't). Feel free to PM me if you would like to speak in person about general questions you may have. Sometimes a call is easier.

 

[MTGas2B]

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy helping folks out here in the boonies but you couldn't pay me enough money to set foot at Univ of Wash. Go to a real school and get some real experience rather than hobnob with the stuck up WAMI crowd in the middle of the city. Yikes.

Two W's in WWAMI dude. Wyoming joined over a decade ago.