Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 28, 2026
Bridging the Technology Divide in the COVID-19 Era: Using Virtual Outreach to Expose Middle and High School Students to Imaging Technology
Published on: September 28, 2022
Impact of a rural interprofessional experience in rural communities on medical and pharmacy students
Debra C Sisson1, Ruth E Westra
1Pharmacy Practice and Pharmaceutical Sciences Department, University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, Duluth, MN 55812-3003, USA. dsisson@d.umn.edu
Background And Objectives:
The mission of the medicine and pharmacy programs at the University of Minnesota, Duluth campus is to prepare students for practice in rural communities. To support and encourage medical and pharmacy students to choose to practice in rural Minnesota, an interprofessional experience was developed to expose medical and pharmacy students to a variety of aspects of rural health care. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of the Rural Interprofessional Experience (RIE) on perceived knowledge and attitudes of medical and pharmacy students toward rural practice.
Methods:
Medical and pharmacy students were surveyed before and after their RIE to assess student perceptions of the value of the experience.
Results:
Analysis shows that both medical and pharmacy students demonstrated a positive change in perceived knowledge after their participation in the rural community experience. However, most attitudes toward rural community participation did not change significantly.
Conclusions:
The RIE of medical and pharmacy students is associated with an increase in perceived knowledge in all categories related to rural health care.
Related Concept Videos
01:30Specialized Care Centers and Settings-II
Rural health centers are specialized care facilities in remote locations with very few medical personnel. The primary care providers who run the centers are mostly Registered Nurse Practitioners. Here, emergency treatment is provided to critically ill or injured patients before they are transferred to the closest hospital. Fortunately, due to advancement in technology, many rural healthcare facilities and professionals have easy access to diagnostic and treatment...
01:30Community Based Intervention
Foundations of Community Mental Health Programs
Central to the success of community-based interventions is the...
01:26Pharmaceutical Poisoning: Potential Scenarios
01:27Peripheral Artery Disease III: Interprofessional Care
01:18Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-II
Physical Therapist
A physical therapist (PT) aims to restore function or prevent additional impairment in a patient following an injury or disease. Massage, heat, cold, water, sonar waves, exercises, and electrical stimulation are some treatments used by PTs to treat...
01:21Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-I
Physicians
The physician's primary responsibility is to diagnose illness and direct the medical or surgical treatment of the condition. The authority to admit patients to a healthcare agency or institution and practice care within that setting is granted to physicians by the healthcare agency or institution itself.