Welcome to News in Brief
Welcome to the April issue of News in Brief. This newsletter is published bi-monthly to feature what is happening in Rural Health Education and Services at the KU Medical Center. For more information contact Joyce Tibbals at jtibbals@kumc.edu.
Kansas Recruitment Center Makes Placements
The Kansas Recruitment Center (KRC) is pleased to announce two new placements for rural Kansas!
To date, KRC has assisted in placing 62 health care providers in rural communities across the state. For more information about KRC, contact Tyler Doyle, tdoyle@kumc.edu.
Medical Students Learn about Life as a Rural Physician
Rural Health Education and Services (RHES) hosted a luncheon and presentation entitled, “Life as a Rural Doctor in Kansas” presented by Jody Bieker, MD, Seneca, Kan., on Friday, April 3 at Rieke Auditorium in Kansas City. Dr. Bieker is a KU School of Medicine graduate and completed her Family Medicine residency at Smoky Hill Family Medicine in Salina, Kan. She currently practices at Seneca Family Practice /Nemaha Valley Community Hospital.
Over 40 medical students and faculty attended the presentation, and heard Dr. Bieker tell about her experience working and living in Seneca, Kan. This casual lunch meeting allowed students to get first-hand information about practicing in rural Kansas. Many of the students used the time to ask questions about Dr. Bieker’s day-to-day life and the steps that assisted her in getting where she is today.
RHES would like to thank Dr. Bieker for sharing her experiences and the participants for attending.
Issues in Medicine Dinner
Rural Health Education and Services will host dinner for KUSM-W third-year medical students attending the monthly Issues in Medicine seminar on May 7. Medical students will be invited to eat pizza after the seminar and be given the opportunity to learn more about the services provided through RHES. For more information, please contact Joyce Tibbals at jtibbals@kumc.edu.
Rural Health Education and Services has a New Director and Advisor
Recently, Joyce Tibbals was named the new Director of Rural Health Education and Services (RHES). Joyce has been a part of the RHES team in several different positions, most recently as assistant director, since 2004. We are excited to welcome Joyce into her new role.
Lorene Valentine has stepped into a new position at RHES as Advisor. Lorene, RHES director since 1991, will continue to play a leadership role in the future planning and on-going activities of the department.
Save-the-Date for Kansas Career Opportunities
The Kansas Career Opportunities events will be held at the KU School of Medicine - Wichita on Oct. 22, 2009, and KU Medical Center in Kansas City on Oct. 29, 2009. Both career fairs are an excellent opportunity for organizations to meet physician residents, medical, nursing, and allied health students and other health care professionals who are seeking employment opportunities.
More information will be available soon on the Rural Health website http://ruralhealth.kumc.edu or email Susan Belden at sbelden@kumc.edu.
Spring Career Fairs
RHES staffed exhibits at several Kansas career fairs in the last couple months. Career fairs give the RHES staff an opportunity to visit with university students studying in health care fields.
The fairs RHES exhibited at include: the Washburn Career Fair Feb. 18, in Topeka, Kan., the Fort Hays State University Career Fair on Feb. 25 in Hays, Kan., and the Newman University Career Fair on March 23, in Wichita, Kan. For more information, please contact Marinn Rank, mrank@kumc.edu.
Rural Health Education and Services Continues to Provide Temporary Coverage
Thus far this fiscal year, Kansas Locum Tenens (KLT) has provided 156 days of coverage. The Kansas Locum Tenens program was established to provide temporary coverage for rural physicians’ medical practice in family medicine, general internal medicine, and pediatrics.
Kansas Medical Resource (KMR) has provided 65.5 days of coverage so far this fiscal year. KMR provides temporary medical coverage to physicians in rural communities for general surgery, psychiatry, radiation oncology, anesthesiology, obstetrics/gynecology, family medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, and other health care specialties.
Would you like to get involved? Would you like to earn extra money? If you’re looking to complete locum tenen coverage or looking for someone to cover for you, contact Andee Ellis at aellis2@kumc.edu.
New Resources Added to KRC Tool Box
The Kansas Recruitment Center (KRC) has added two new resources to the KRC Web site’s Tool Box. The Tool Box is now divided into two groups for both employers and job seekers. The first new tool is the Checklist for Recruiting Physicians for employers. This includes a list of questions and considerations to be made while conducting their search. Also new to the Tool Box is the Practice Opportunity Scorecard for job seekers. This is an organized list of topics to consider as they pursue their options. This tool is designed to help health care professionals make decisions about those aspects of a practice and community that are most important to them and to others who will be a part of their decision.
More tools will be added in the future and any suggestions are gladly welcomed! To view the Tool Box, visit http://www.kansasrecruitment.com/ and run your cursor over the Kansas Recruitment Center tab.
Kansas Recruitment Center Visits with Newman University Students
On March 2, the Kansas Recruitment Center (KRC) hosted a resource luncheon at Wichita’s Newman University. KRC talked with allied health and nursing students about what the Kansas Recruitment Center can do for them and some of the best practices for interviewing and resume building.
KRC was very pleased with the turnout. Approximately, 97 students and staff took part in the event.
Kansas Recruitment Center Exhibits at Spring Conferences
Rural Health staff member, Auburn Rickman, exhibited at the Kansas Physical Therapy Association’s (KPTA) spring conference on April 4-5 in Wichita, Kan. The conference gave RHES an opportunity to visit in-person with Kansas physical therapists and share information about RHES programs.
The Kansas Medical Group Management Association (KMGMA) spring conference was held in Wichita, Kan., on April 15-17. Rural Health Education and Services (RHES) staff exhibited at the event. RHES visited with several current clients, and also spoke with potential clients interested in utilizing KRC services.
Checkout RHES' Blog
Read the RHES blog for additional tools in information that showcases our efforts and dedication to rural health in Kansas. The blog is located at www.ruralhealtheducationandservices.blogspot.com. In addition, RHES has entered the world of social networking with our new Facebook page. Become a fan by searching for us. Our page will be another opportunity to update fans on happenings and post pictures of various events.
