Nebraska medical schools officials met to help influence students to work in rural areas

On the campus of UNL Thursday, medical representatives from colleges all over Nebraska met to discuss how to increase the number of students going back into the workforce in rural areas

“These kinds of students who come from communities in central and western Nebraska who then indeed return, be it Cozad, Broken Bow, Ogallala. Holdrege Nebraska to practice and that betters the community and it aids the health care for the people in those communities,” Charlie Biack from the University of Nebraska-Kearney said.

After summits in the past, new programs have been implemented, and they’re starting to see tangible results already, as 44% of graduates are now joining the workforce in rural Nebraska and they are hoping to continue that success.

“I think one of the things is that our institutions our college want to continue to have the great partnership that they have with UNMC finding way to make sure that we have a significant number of talented students who want to then return back to rural Nebraska and continue to serve that is critically important to us,” Chancellor Paul Truman of the Nebraska State College system said.

One way they are influencing students to stay in rural areas is giving high school seniors full-ride scholarships to undergraduate schools and guaranteed admission to UNMC.

As long as they return to small towns after graduation, they are also aiming to make sure that all Nebraska medical students are on the cutting edge of what the future of the medical field will look like.

“We’re helping to prepare our current and future students to be able to have a better understanding of things like telemedicine, or wearable devices so we’re building that capacity and capability and understanding within our students now so that when they get through our program and back out to practicing in those rural communities they’re ready to hit the ground running and start serving their population,” Nicole Carritt of the University of Nebraska Medical Center said.