Building a pipeline of rural health care providers

In rural Pillager, MN, Paige (Muehlhauser) Blong ’16 (MS ’19) serves as a physician associate (PA) at the Essentia Health St. Joseph’s clinic. Serving an area with a population of under 500, Blong emphasizes the importance of personal connections in her work: “You know them on a personal basis. You know a lot about them as a person, and they know about you.”

However, rural communities like Pillager face significant healthcare challenges, including a shortage of practitioners and increasing health concerns among residents. Dr. Carolyn Jahr, an associate professor and a founding faculty member of the Master of Science in PA Medicine at The College of St. Scholastica, notes the program’s focus on preparing graduates like Blong for roles in underserved areas. “Since our first class graduated in 2019, our goal was to have a number of PA grads work in primary care in rural, underserved populations,” she explained to the Minnesota Private College Council. “We’ve been successful in doing that with each of our classes.”

St. Scholastica ensures that its curriculum prioritizes training geared toward the unique demands of rural healthcare. This includes telemedicine and skills like point-of-care ultrasounds to equip students to meet the needs of their future communities. “We spend time talking about different settings and scenarios to prepare our students to make sure people are practice-ready,” Dr. Jahr said.

You can read the full Minnesota Private College Council article to learn how St. Scholastica and other Minnesota private colleges are on the frontlines of rural healthcare.