CONTACT: Doug Carlson
850-645-1255; doug.carlson@med.fsu.edu

June 1, 2016

BUS TRIPS GIVE FSU MEDICAL STUDENTS GLIMPSE OF RURAL MEDICINE

Friday, first-year College of Medicine students will board buses and fan out across North Florida to explore rural health care. It’s the FSU College of Medicine Rural Learning Experience (RuLE), sponsored by the Florida Blue Foundation. The idea is to increase students’ familiarity with rural health – and the possibility that they’ll practice rural medicine – by exposing them early to rural communities and health providers.

This year, four buses each will depart with 30 first-year students, 12 master’s students and faculty and staff from the College of Medicine and other FSU colleges. The destinations are:

• Cairo, Ga., where they will visit a rural hospital, the Grady County Health Department, two clinical practice sites, and tour a local auto museum.
• Quincy and Havana, where they will visit the Capital Regional emergency room, the PAEC Migrant Center and have a Q&A with Havana residents.
• Marianna, where they will visit the county health department, a rural hospital, and speak with community leaders and residents at Rivertown Community Church.
• And Wakulla County, where they will visit the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Walk-in Clinic, the local health department, a nursing and rehab center, and Wakulla Springs State Park.

Across all locations they will meet and hear from primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, administrators, community leaders, and from second-year medical students who participated in the 2015 RuLE. Media are invited to ride along on one of the buses or to do interviews and take photos at any of the locations.

Buses will depart:
FRIDAY, JUNE 3
8:15 A.M.
FSU COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
1115 W. CALL ST., TALLAHASSEE

Directions: From downtown, travel west on Tennessee Street and turn left on Stadium Drive. The College of Medicine is at Stadium and Call Street. Press parking will be available by RSVP.

Visit http://med.fsu.edu/index.cfm?page=ruralMedicalPrograms.home for more information about the College of Medicine’s rural health programs.

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