Hello, I'm Dr. Byron Crouse, Director of the Minnesota Rural Health School (MRHS) and Head of the Department of Family Medicine at the UMD School of Medicine. I invite you to review this module and learn about an interdisciplinary educational program taking place in rural Minnesota.

It is becoming increasingly understood that no one profession can solely possess the skills necessary to provide the best patient care. Ideally, students from different disciplines, working together, will gain an appreciation of the strengths that each discipline brings to the health care team. This will provide an opportunity for health care professionals to learn to work as a team to deliver quality and cost-effective health care.

To help meet this need, the MRHS, a rural interdisciplinary educational program funded by the Academic Health Center of the University of Minnesota was developed. The MRHS recruits students from a variety of disciplines including medicine, nursing, physician assistant, pharmacy, and social work. Through interdisciplinary team work, students participating in the MRHS are gaining knowledge of rural health care, learning skills they need to work in interdisciplinary teams, and solidifying their interest in practicing in rural communities.

Biannual MRHS sessions take place in seven MRHS community sites, including: Moose Lake, Hibbing, Grand Rapids, Staples, Paynesville, Willmar and New Ulm. Students devote one day a week during the 10-12 week sessions to MRHS curriculum focusing on community and interdisciplinary care. The remainder of the student's time in the communities is typically used to fulfill their clinical training in each of their respective disciplines. Since its inception in 1996, over 150 students from colleges and universities throughout the state have participated in the program.

The learning process in the MRHS does not follow the usual lecture approach. Students participate in a community project that encourages them to interact with a variety of community agencies and organizations, working on issues directly involving public and community health. The curriculum incorporates interdisciplinary case studies designed to stimulate discussion, familiarize students with other disciplines, and give a personalized, clinical or community oriented view of a topic.

Access to technology, information, and methods to manage information are critical to the rural health care provider. Students participate in a telemedicine project and communicate with faculty mentors and health care providers via e-mail, interactive television, telephone conferencing, or engage in live video medical consultations.

Educational experiences in rural communities have been shown to be a very effective method to promote future rural practice. Students have an opportunity to experience life in a small community and benefit from experiencing a rural setting from the perspective of a health care professional. Through the MRHS, students are provided an opportunity for learning traditional health care content in a rural practice and they learn directly the rewards and challenges of practicing in a rural community.