One of the most challenging questions facing the medical field is the future of rural health. In an era when more rural hospitals close than open, USD is hoping to create more opportunity, and doctors, for smaller communities.
The USD Sanford School of Medicine is the state’s only medical school. As rural hospitals shutter, university leaders say the time to address the issue is today.
Significant gaps in care exist in much of the state, especially west of the Missouri River. Dr. Jason Wickersham is associate dean of rural medicine at USD.
“Once you cross that [river], there is no obstetrics until you reach Rapid City or Spearfish," Wickersham said. "I think that is definitely a concern for the school.”
With obstetrics as an example, or any other medical care in need of a specialist, it adds up for a patient.
“If you’re a woman in Faith South Dakota and you have to drive through the course of a pregnancy you have multiple visits, initially probably monthly and as you get closer to being due many times weekly," Wickersham said. "That means taking a whole day off work, or half a day minimum, to drive 2-3 hours somewhere to see your obstetrician, have a 15-minute appointment, and drive 2-3 hours back. I mean, that’s just the prenatal care.”
Among USD's efforts to close this gap is putting students on a road to consider rural practice as a viable career path.
During Wickersham’s career as a rural practitioner, he said he found being a small community doctor profoundly rewarding. Growing up in Gettysburg, he said he knew he wanted to practice in a small town from medical school.
“There’s lots of opportunities, there are wonderful, wonderful rural facilities that provide great health care to their patients," Wickersham said. "I mean, there’s pros and cons to living anywhere. When you’re a physician in a small town, patients trust you, they love you, they support you."
Among USD’s connection efforts is the Frontier and Rural Medicine program, which immerses students in rural clinical settings.
