SEARCH Party
Center for Rural Health program brings together students and communities
Many North Dakota communities are searching for emerging health care professionals who have an interest in practicing in rural areas. Many health profession students are searching for practical experience in a clinical setting.
For more than 15 years, the Student-resident Experiences and Rotations in Community Health (SEARCH) program, run out of the University of North Dakota (UND) School of Medicine and Health Science’s Center for Rural Health, has provided health profession students an opportunity to spend a month working in interdisciplinary teams in rural North Dakota communities.
“The medical experiences reinforced things I learned this year in medical school,” said second-year medical student Anna Marie DePompolo in a letter to the editor of the Herald-Press in Harvey at the end of her SEARCH rotation there this summer, “and I had the opportunity to learn a ton of new things that will aid me as I continue my studies.”
Through a federal grant from the National Health Service Corps, SEARCH is open to health profession students from across the country. They come from a variety of programs including medicine, nurse practitioner studies, physician assistant studies, social work, dentistry and, for the first time this year, psychology.
Most of the SEARCH rotations are done over the summer.
“This allows the students to keep learning in a fun environment,” said Mary Amundson (’95), who runs the program at the Center for Rural Health. “North Dakota offers a learning experience other places don’t have. All of our preceptors in all areas are eager to teach and share with the students.”
Mental Health
SEARCH students are studying to become:
- Physicians
- Nurses practitioners
- Physician assistants
- Social workers
- Dentists
- Psychologists
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The addition of doctoral-level psychology students supplies much-needed mental health expertise into communities.
Holly Dannewitz (’02, ’05) is a fourth-year doctoral candidate at the UND psychology department and chose to participate in SEARCH to gain more experience in health psychology. Where most of her clinical work has been in the typical mental health setting, she went to Valley Community Health Center in Northwood in hopes of something a little different.
“I was looking to experience the interdisciplinary setting,” said Dannewitz, who now works regularly with a wide array of health care professionals from physicians to administrators to dieticians. “I also wanted to work within a health care setting.”
But small-town residents are skeptical about utilizing Dannewitz’s experience.
“They don’t want to go to counseling,” said Roxanne Jonas, M.D., ’00, a physician in Northwood. “They want to take a pill for a week and have their problems go away.”
So, instead of sitting down one-on-one, Dannewitz is discovering different ways to help people.
Filling the Need
While half of the students’ time in the community is spent working in a health care facility, the other half is dedicated to a community project.
This project could be an enhancement of a program the health care facility is already doing, or something completely new. Some examples include health education brochures or audits of patient records.
Sharon Ericson (’73, ’80), CEO of Valley Community Health Center in Northwood remembers previous SEARCH students’ projects including a dental clinic, a diabetes collaborative and an end-of-life clinic.
Dannewitz is working with the facility’s weight management program. The program includes experts such as occupational therapists, dietitians, nurses and licensed practical nurses, but until Dannewitz’s arrival, did not include mental health representation.
“The metal health aspect of weight loss is important,” said Dannewitz, who spends every Wednesday evening with the weight-management group. “It is more than just physical. It has a lot to do with mental and emotional issues.”
Now Dannewitz will be doing presentations to the group on issues surrounding the mental aspects of weight loss including body image and emotional eating.
“But, all the projects are not necessarily health-related,” explains Amundson. “Students have coached little league teams, volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club and worked at summer camps.”
Students participating in SEARCH are meant to experience life in the community as a whole.
Two-way Street
“We treat it as a long-term recruitment tool. If we can show these
students the benefits of living and practicing in a rural community, maybe
they will come back.”
Sharon Ericson
CEO
Valley Community Health Center, Northwood |
Nearly 30 communities throughout North Dakota host SEARCH
students including Beulah, Bottineau, Belcourt, Bowman, Carrington, Cavalier, Cooperstown, Crosby, Elgin, Ellendale, Fort Totten, Fort Yates, Grafton, Harvey, Hazen, Hettinger, Linton, Mayville, New Town, Northwood, Oakes, Rolla, Rugby, Stanley, Trenton, Wahpeton, Watford City and Wishek.
SEARCH serves as an opportunity for these communities to show the advantages of small-town practice and living to potential recruits.
“From the second I arrived in Harvey, people opened their homes and hearts to me and went out of their way to include me in activities,” said DePompolo. “I had a good time getting involved with the community and participating in such things as the track meets, Relay for Life… and the Women’s Way booth at the county fair… It was wonderful to see the talent and community support behind these activities.”
As SEARCH is a federal program, it also brings in students from other states to experience life in rural North Dakota, expanding a recruitment base.
Ericson has hosted three medical students and the first two psychology students in Northwood through SEARCH.
“We treat it as a long-term recruitment tool,” she said. “If we can show these students the benefits of living and practicing in a rural community, maybe they will come back.”
-Amanda Scurry
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