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Utah AHEC Sponsors Rural Training Feasibility Study
The State of Utah is facing an increasingly acute shortage of primary care physicians.
Every county in the state is designated as a Health Professions Shortage Area for at least one health profession. Utah recruits approximately 66% of its physicians from out of state,
and it is estimated that we have to recruit 203 physicians this year alone to keep up with projected growth in population. In addition, over 65% of the care physicians in rural areas are approaching
retirement age.
Nowhere is this shortage felt more acutely than in rural Utah, and underserved areas in Utah’s major metropolitan centers.
To resolve this, Utah AHEC and the Utah Council on Medical Education, proposed the establishment of a rural graduate medical education/training program. Research has shown that
75% of physicians who do a rural training track ultimately stay at their training site. Thus, it is hoped that by exposing residents to the opportunities and challenges of practicing medicine in rural
Utah, we will begin to ease the shortage of primary care physicians in our state.
Research has also show that, to be successful, rural training programs must function as a partnership between the medical community and the host community at large.
A rural training feasibility study was launched in May, 2000. Designed to explore the financial and
educational practicality of this proposal, the study will assess the training potential of seven medical centers in the state:
The Ashley Valley Medical Center in Vernal.
The Castleview Medical Center in Price.
The Central Valley Medical Center in Nephi.
The Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George.
The Logan Regional Hospital in Logan.
The Uintah Basin Medical Center in Roosevelt.
The Valley View Medical Center in Cedar City.
The Utah Rural Training Feasibility Study is sponsored by Utah Area Education Centers (AHEC). Peter Catinella, M.D., professor of medicine for the Department of Family and Preventive
Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine, is the primary investigator. Deborah L. Turner, R.N., Utah AHEC associate director of program administration, and Steven M. Thiese,
M.S., Utah AHEC research associate, round out the study team.
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