These programs are funded through the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) and are excellent ways for students in Arkansas to pay for health-related college tuition bills. One is a scholarship program providing money up front for tuition, fees, and other related expenses that won’t need to be repaid. The other is a loan repayment program that provides reimbursement for up to $50,000 in student loans.

Both programs require a commitment of 2-4 years of post-graduate service in an NHSC-approved site in a Health Professional Shortage Area. Current deadlines for the 2010-2011 academic year have already past, but you can follow the links below to get a head start on next year’s application process.

• NHSC Scholarship Program

• NHSC Loan Repayment Program

• Health Professional Shortage Area Locator

Check out the video below to learn more, and contact your local Pre-Health Recruiter to find out when the next Day in the Life program is happening in your neck of the woods.

We hear in this week’s video from Darren Caldwell, the CEO of DeWitt Hospital, who tells us how emerging technologies connect rural areas to the rest of the world, and how rural docs are paid as much, if not more, than their urban colleagues. We also hear from Dr. Stan Burleson, who talks about the respect he gets from the residents of DeWitt and the pride feels being a real family doc, caring for generation after generation of local families. Finally, we also hear from Dr. H. Marks Attwood, residency director at AHEC Pine Bluff, about why he loves living and practicing in rural southeast Arkansas.

The truth is clear when you talk to these folks on the front lines: rural medicine is rewarding for numerous reasons. Click here to go straight to the video, or read on for a brief discussion of why rural practice might be great fit for you.

First off, you can make more money in a rural setting than in a big city. The fact of the matter is there isn’t as much competition from other groups of doctors, which means reimbursement rates are likely to be higher. You’ll also have more opportunities to work and do procedures that are of more value in the marketplace.

Secondly, you’ll likely have more control over your work schedule. This means you can dictate how much or how little money you want to make based on what kind of work-life balance you want. Most rural communities are happy to have you, and most hospital CEO’s are happy to make the arrangement work for you.

Thirdly, it is obvious when talking to these professionals that the trust and respect for doctors in rural areas is enormous. Your patients are grateful to have you as part of their community, and they respect your knowledge and commitment to your work.

Finally, the rural lifestyle can be very attractive. If you like a more relaxed living environment less cluttered with anxiety and skepticism, you would enjoy a rural setting. Whether it’s agriculture, hunting and fishing, or hiking in the mountains, rural Arkansas has much to offer a practicing physician in his or her off hours.

So check out the video below to hear more about rural medicine in the delta region of Arkansas from the folks who know it best. You can also check out our previous post, The Rural Reality: 7 Reasons You Should Practice Rural Medicine, for even more information!

The Medical Lab Technicians and other lab staff are responsible for obtaining a variety of body fluid samples, analyzing those samples, and delivering results to physicians and nurses. As Lorraine sees it, the lab staff members serve as critical liaisons between patients and healthcare providers. Without accurate testing of body fluids, a physician cannot properly diagnose what’s wrong with a person.

Check out the video below to find out more about Lorraine and the career of a Medical Lab Technician.

Each career profile contains a brief description of the career, the amount of education required for the career, personality types that are likely to enjoy the career, along with common tasks performed by those who practice the career. Please take some time to browse through the Arkansas Health Careers Explorer. The perfect career in healthcare is waiting there for you!

We just produced a new video, which you can see below, explaining exactly what the Arkansas AHECs do. As you’ll find out, they exist primarily to decentralize medical education in Arkansas, but they do so much more than that. Be sure to Check it Out!

For more info, including contact information for your Area Health Education Center, check out our What the Heck’s an AHEC page!

The document also highlights educational facilities around the state of Arkansas at which you can train for each of these exciting careers. The post-high school commitment for these careers ranges from 6 months to 10 years or more, so you can use this tool to find the perfect job for you in the health care field in Arkansas.

To get started, just right-click the link below and select “save to disk,” or open with Acrobat.

Arkansas Health Careers Guide

Here’s the script… Rural docs don’t have a life. Primary care docs get less respect than specialists. Rural practitioners are isolated and they don’t have the resources of their urban and suburban counterparts. The list goes on … and while rural practitioners certainly face challenges, the advantages of practicing medicine in a rural area might surprise you.

You’ll see it all. As a rural primary care practitioner, you will undoubtedly see a broader scope of cases than a city doc. Furthermore, the lack of nearby specialists in most rural settings means you can provide a wider variety of services. Instead of referring patients to someone else, you will often find yourself making diagnoses and performing procedures your urban counterparts wouldn’t get the opportunity to touch.

You’ll really get to know your patients. Since you will be making more medical decisions for your patients, you will find yourself more involved in all aspects of their care and their family’s care. This continuity will result in a better understanding of the many factors affecting each family’s health issues, and a greater chance to impact those issues with more holistic and long term solutions.

Your schedule will be flexible. While it’s true that you might work more in an average week as a rural physician than an urban practitioner, you may also find a certain flexibility in your schedule. You may find that you deal with less bureaucracy than docs who work for larger, urban institutions. You might also find that the nature of the caseload makes your on-call life less hectic than it would be in a more populated area.

Your salary will go farther. It is true that you may be paid less per service than your urban colleagues, but the diversity of your practice will mean you’ll often get your hands on more highly-compensated procedures than urban primary care docs. Furthermore, living in a rural area usually means you can get a bigger house for less money, and your overall cost of living will be lower than it would be in a big city. And that means more cool gadgets and fun vacations!

You’ll have closer relationships with your patients and colleagues. Rural communities tend to give you more personal contact with the people around you. You will often provide medical treatment to friends, neighbors, and fellow church members, as well as multiple generations of the same family. Your work relationships will benefit as well, since you and your colleagues will share the bond of rural practice and will be more likely to support rather than compete with each other.

You’ll enjoy the beauty and slower pace of rural life. While cities have their own beauty and offer much in the way of entertainment, living in a rural area often gives you more access to the great outdoors, hunting and fishing excursions, and tends to promote a more relaxed lifestyle. You can get where you want to go easily and quickly, and rush hour traffic is nonexistent.

You’ll learn more than you ever thought you’d know. Practicing medicine is always a lifelong commitment to learning, but as a rural physician, you will find this to be especially true. The nature of practice in rural areas will constantly challenge you to stay current and learn new things, ensuring that you remain a well-rounded, capable physician.

For a more in-depth look at the pros, cons, and myths surrounding rural practice, check out the latest issue of the AAMC’s Choices newsletter, For Consideration: A Career in Rural Practice. If you’re currently a student at UAMS and would like more information about opportunities in rural practice, please e-mail Pat Vannatta at VannattaPatriciaM@uams.edu.

Finally, we at the UAMS Area Health Education Centers are committed to training rural practitioners throughout the state. The following list of 6 AHEC facilities currently have family practice residency programs geared toward rural practice.

• AHEC Northwest in Fayetteville
• AHEC Northeast in Jonesboro
• AHEC Pine Bluff
• AHEC South Arkansas in El Dorado
• AHEC Southwest in Texarkana
• AHEC Fort Smith

If you’re currently a student, what have you heard about practicing in a rural setting? What has discouraged you from rural medicine? What has attracted you to it? If you’re currently a physician practicing in a rural area, what do you find most rewarding? What do you find most challenging? We would love to hear from you in the comments section below.

This webisode takes a look at the Family Practice Residency Program at AHEC Pine Bluff through the eyes of two residents there. AHEC Pine Bluff is located at 4010 South Mulberry in Pine Bluff, AR, adjacent to Jefferson Regional Medical Center. If you are interested in more info about the residency program, you can contact Susan Over. She is the residency coordinator there. You can call her at 1-800-395-6011, or e-mail her at sover@ahecpb.uams.edu. You can also visit AHEC Pine Bluff’s website for more information on their facilities and programs, and you can visit the AHEC Pine Bluff Open House for more video content.

We’d love to hear what you think of the video in the comments section below. Also, if you have a question specifically for Brandy or Brent (the residents in the video), you can just send an e-mail to thetraininggrounds@arkansashealthcareers.com. Please be sure to tell us the webisode number you are referencing and who your question is for. We’ll be sure to forward it on to them.

Thanks for watching!

We are all about providing as much information as possible about health-related careers in Arkansas. There are more opportunities now than ever for you to have a challenging, exciting, and financially rewarding career in health care in Arkansas. Over the coming months and years, we will be providing tons of fresh videos, links, and articles about everything from finding the perfect job to paying for college to having fun in the Natural State.

Check back often to stay in the loop. Feel free to e-mail us with questions or comments at info@arkansashealthcareers.com. You can also connect with us at Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr, so come join the conversation!