KU Medical Center works for Kansas

Updated February 2013

• 2,215 students from Kansas are currently studying at KU Medical Center.
• 96 health professions students received hands-on training in 2012 through placement programs in rural and underserved Kansas communities, including Rural Preceptorship Program for KU medical students and fieldwork experiences for other professions.
• 4,137 K-12 Kansas students participated in activities during 2012 that encouraged them to consider careers in health care, math and science. These events were hosted by the Area Health Education Centers and Office for Cultural Enhancement and Diversity.
• The Community Health Project provides interprofessional, service-learning internships to enhance the educational experience of KU students in the health professions. The students are immersed in public health and social service settings across Kansas. The project is facilitated by Cheryl Gibson, PhD, Wendy Hildenbrand, MPH, OTR/L, and Stewart Babbott, MD, with support from the Kansas Health Foundation since 1992.

• Our work at the University of Kansas Medical Center, along with our partners The University of Kansas Hospital and University of Kansas Physicians, contributes more than $1.3 billion annually in economic revenue to the state of Kansas.
• 12,645 KU Medical Center graduates live and/or practice in Kansas.
• 142 health care providers have been placed in rural and underserved Kansas communities since 2003 through the Kansas Recruitment and Retention Center, which provides placement assistance to rural health organizations and seeks to enhance the quality and quantity of health care professionals in Kansas.
• 243 Kansas physicians received funding through the Kansas Bridging Plan, a loan-forgiveness program offered since 1991 to primary care medical residents who agree to practice in rural Kansas.
• 243 shifts were covered by temporary physicians, which allowed Kansas physicians necessary time off in 2012. These coverages were made via KU Medical Center's Kansas Locum Tenens and Kansas Medical Resource programs.
• 42 Kansas health care employers exhibited with 2012 Kansas Career Opportunities, which is designed to introduce medical students, residents and other health care professionals to rural communities looking to hire.
• 10,946 health care professionals from Kansas participated in KU Medical Center continuing education courses and conferences in 2012.
• 2,688 professional education and administrative visits in Kansas occurred in 2012 via telemedicine, an interactive video technology that connects providers and patients when distance separates the two. The technology is operated by the University of Kansas Center for Telemedicine and Telehealth.

• The University of Kansas Medical Center is the headquarters for Frontiers: The Heartland Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, a network of scientists from across the Kansas City metropolitan area and the state of Kansas working on translational research-research that transforms laboratory discoveries into treatments and cures.
• The Kansas Community Cancer Health Disparities Network focuses on reducing cancer disparities in two distinct rural populations: American Indians in northeast Kansas and Latinos in southwest Kansas. The goal is to work with the communities to improve treatment and increase awareness about cancer prevention, screening and risk-reduction. Allen Greiner, MD, MPH, is primary investigator on the U54 grant.
• Hospitalization has been identified as a teachable moment in which patients may be more likely to quit smoking. In 2012, 35 Kansas hospitals participated in Kan Quit II, a study that provides smoking cessation counseling, treatment and case management services to inpatients. The study then evaluates the effectiveness of the smoking cessation services. The project is led by Edward Ellerbeck, MD, MPH and is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health.
• Nine Kansas counties are participating in a research study investigating the prevalence of developmental disabilities in rural children with epilepsy. The study is led by Suzanne Hawley, PhD, MPH.

• 785 Kansas residents made visits to KU Medical Center health care providers in outreach clinics held outside of Kansas City and Wichita in 2012.
• 4,100 Kansas residents saw KU Medical Center health care providers via telemedicine, an interactive video technology that connects providers and patients when distance separates the two, in 2012. These services are provided through the University of Kansas Center for Telemedicine and Telehealth.
• 15 Kansas institutions are members of the Midwest Cancer Alliance, a network of hospitals, physicians groups, and cancer support and patient advocacy organizations bringing cancer research, care, and professional support together to advance the quality and reach of cancer care, prevention, early detection, and survivorship in the Heartland.

• KU Medical Center's Area Health Education Centers (AHECs), located in Garden City, Hays and Pittsburg, provide consultation clinics, support for rural research, health career promotion activities, continuing education programming for health care professionals and clinical placements of health professions students across Kansas.
• KU hosts an annual job fair, Kansas Career Opportunities, for health care organizations to recruit providers to rural Kansas communities. Read more about the 2012 fair in Kansas City.