Arts Rural This Rural Mission

Transcript 
Julia Terhune:
This Rural Mission is a podcast brought to you by Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, the Herbert H. And Grace A. Dow Foundation, and the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Family Medicine Department.
Julia Terhune:
We are so excited to bring you season three. I'm your host, Julia Terhune, and I hope you enjoy this episode.
Julia Terhune:
A common pastime for rural residents and tourists alike is the local farmer's market. I love them, and it seems to be a hallmark for many rural communities. Not only do farmers attend these events, but often you'll find local craftsmen, artists and even local musicians.
Julia Terhune:
So maybe that's what you were thinking when I said art in rural communities or arts rural for this podcast episode. And you'd be right. After all, there are many artists who are at these events, but my perspective takes a little different turn.
Julia Terhune:
When I say arts rural, I was actually thinking about some of the doctors and future doctors that I know. So that might sound kind of confusing, but it's not when you think about it this way. I describe it like a Venn diagram. There's one circle with art. There's one circle with medicine and in my world, where they seem to overlap is in rural communities.
Julia Terhune:
You see, growing up in a small town, I experienced a place where people used their crafts to survive, but also where many arts and skilled crafts have survived. If you've ever been to one of those markets that I mentioned, you know what I mean. People make their living off of the things they make, but they also make things to serve them on their farm, in their home. Some families I know, and maybe you know too, have simplified their lives, to make more room for art and music. And there doesn't seem to be a community gathering without those things in many small places.
Julia Terhune:
So what does that mean for the doctors that want to serve in these bucolic communities?
Julia Terhune:
We've talked at length on this podcast about the social and economic complexities that make doctoring in rural communities a little harder. Harder problems sometimes cause more creative solutions, which is definitely something our partners today will speak about. But I think that the people who serve in these rural communities as physicians are themselves a little more complex. They seem to not only come at physical issues with a multi-faceted approach, but have several sides to them as people.
Julia Terhune:
We've said on this show that doing rural medicine is a brave thing to do. Now, I would like to propose that serving rural communities is a creative thing to do.
Julia Terhune:
Let's start with some student stories. Right now in the leadership and rural medicine programs, we have two pretty creative women learning to become rural doctors. Kayla, who you'll hear from first, is originally from Minnesota, but is now completing her clinical medical education in Traverse City and preparing to become either an OBGYN or a surgeon. She's not a hundred percent sure quite yet.
Julia Terhune:
Ellie is originally from Illinois, but came to the upper peninsula during her undergrad and has stayed in Michigan ever since. She will also be going to Traverse City this summer. Both students got a fine art degree along with their pre-medical requirements in undergrad, and yet nothing deterred them from medicine.
Kayla:
So I went to undergrad. I had actually already completed 60 college credits before I even got there. So I only had two years left to do.
Kayla:
But I had this four year scholarship that covered a good amount of my tuition. And I was like, "I don't know if I'll be ready to graduate in two years." So I went to undergrad. I knew I was going to do something science, but my whole family is kind of artistic and no one's really been able to go and entertain that or build on their artistic skill. The [inaudible 00:05:00] high schoo