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Indiana Primary Care Scholars Consortium Presented with
Excellence in Education Award by the Indiana Rural Health Association
6/7/2007
Evansville, Indiana
PICTURE CAPTION: Students participating in summer 2007 programming conducted by the Indiana Primary Care Scholars Consortium join
Dr. Rick Kiovsky, Jennifer Custer (both from the Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine) and Joyce
Strange (from Union Hospital's Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health located in Terre Haute, Indiana) in accepting an award
on behalf of the Consortium. The award for Excellence in Education was presented by the Indiana Rural Health Association's
Executive Director, Shawna Girgis, at their annual conference held June 6 and 7 in Evansville, Indiana.
The Primary Care Scholars Consortium, created in 1999, is a statewide program coordinated by the Indiana University
School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine in partnership with Union Hospital's Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health.
Other partners include: Deaconess Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program, Fort Wayne Medical Education Program, Indiana
Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, IUSM Primary Care Scholars' Program, and St. Joseph Regional Medical Center Family
Medicine Residency.
The program is designed to result in an increase in the number of primary care physicians in rural and other underserved areas
of Indiana. Toward this end, the Consortium offers high quality, service-linked training opportunities each summer to first year
medical students. This summer, approximately 30 medical students are spending eight-weeks experiencing first hand what it is
like to practice medicine in these rural and underserved urban communities.
National and state research indicate that early and frequent exposure to primary care and underserved populations is essential in
the development of future primary care providers and their choice to practice in rural and urban underserved communities.
Indiana, like all other states in the nation, is woefully short of primary care providers in these underserved areas. It is
therefore essential to work together to develop, implement and strengthen programming that provides students with first hand
quality educational health care experiences. The Indiana Primary Care Scholars Consortium has put such programming together
with help from additional partnering organizations, communities and businesses who are working together to meet the needs of
our students and our state.
The Indiana Rural Health Association Excellence in Education award recognizes the Consortium's achievements to date. The award is
designed to recognize an outstanding individual, organization, company, governmental unit or other entity that has contributed to
the knowledge and development of our future rural health providers, communities and/or individuals. The Indiana Rural Health
Association, in recognizing the Consortium's achievements, stated that the program and its staff have shown dedication to
education and teaching and provided an outstanding contribution to the overall body of knowledge and programming in the area
of rural health and in methodologies to better provide care and services to our rural populations.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Sarah Snider, Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health, Union Hospital
812-238-7421, mcrhscs@uhhg.org
or
Jennifer Custer, Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine
317/274-6539, jcuster@iupui.edu
or
Tina Elliott, Indiana Rural Health Association
812-478-3919 x 222, telliottrha@bizma.rr.com
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