Students from the first-year M. D., PA and Bridge classes participating in the July 1 Rural Learning Experience board the charter bus bound for Monticello in Jefferson County.
Rural Learning Experience trip
opens eyes to challenges and opportunities
By Bob Thomas FSU College of Medicine
Piling into four charter buses staged in the FSU College of Medicine parking lot, 192 first-year students from across the M. D., PA and Bridge to Clinical Medicine programs embarked on the daylong July 1 Rural Learning Experience.
Back for a second consecutive year following a four-year, COVID-imposed hiatus, the RuLE Trip is designed to expose the newest students to rural communities in the surrounding counties and the health care challenges they face.
The inaugural trip, originally called the Rural Educational Orientation Program, took place in 2010. It was renamed in 2014 when it was incorporated into the first-year medical school curriculum. The Florida Blue Foundation continues to provide funding support.
“ The trip ' s value has only grown in recent years,” said Kerwyn Flowers, D. O., the college’ s director of Rural Medical Education who is now dean of the Tallahassee Regional Campus.“ With the addition of a mini-community health assessment component, students now have the opportunity not only to observe but also to engage meaningfully with the unique challenges and assets of rural communities.”
The 2025 version carried groups to four destinations: Monticello( Jefferson County), Quincy( Gadsden County), Marianna( Jackson County) and a combination of Bristol and Blountstown( Liberty and Calhoun counties).
“ Given the national and statewide trends – such as the declining number of students pursuing family medicine and the persistent shortage of rural health providers – this trip takes on even greater significance,” Flowers said.“ It serves as a rare and powerful tool for early exposure, which is known to influence specialty choice and practice location.”
Those points were driven home on the first stop of the Monticello leg at the Jefferson County Health Department. The
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