Twenty second-year students from KU School of Medicine gathered in Salina in late May to begin an immersive elective program designed to offer real-world experience in rural health care. The Summer Training Option in Rural Medicine (STORM) program offers early-stage students from KU's campuses in Kansas City, Salina and Wichita a unique month-long, hands-on training opportunity.

Students in STORM learn not only the practice of rural medicine, but also the dynamics of working with limited resources, building trust in small communities and understanding their own path in medicine.

“Our STORM program is favored by preceptors because the students are excited, they’re young and they’re interested in rural medicine,” said Neesa Butler, program manager in the Office of Rural Medical Education at the University of Kansas School of Medicine.

The two-day kickoff for this year’s STORM cohort included a welcome social at “The Well,” a scenic property in Salina, followed by an interactive clinical skills orientation on the Salina campus. Students heard from KU School of Medicine faculty, Rural Medical Education Network site directors and residents from the Smoky Hill Family Medicine Residency Program.

Following orientation, students fanned out across the state to spend the month of June paired with rural physician preceptors, many of whom are alumni of the program themselves.

Research conducted by the STORM program shows that participants are more likely to pursue primary care residencies and ultimately enter the rural health care workforce in Kansas, key goals of the program and KU as the state continues to address provider shortages in underserved areas.

You can see a video on the STORM program and read reflection papers by two students detailing their experiences.