Welcome to the Rural Health Elective

The Rural Health Elective is a four week away rotation at the practice of a graduate of the program, Katelyn Leopold MD, and her partners in Ottawa, Ohio, a small rural community 2 1/2 hours North of Cincinnati. Residents will work directly with Dr. Leopold, Dr. Jeff Eiden, and Dr. Leah Eiden, providing care in multiple settings including the outpatient, nursing home, and inpatient (newborns) settings. The practice serves a rural farming community in Putnam County, approximately thirty minutes from Lima and Findlay, Ohio, and will expose the residents to a diverse patient population including Spanish speaking only hispanic patients, rural underserved patients, and a broad patient panel in respect to age. The physicians perform multiple routine office based procedures and provide initial interpretation of x-rays performed in the office.

The Rural Health Elective is only offered as a two or four-week rotation block (not available as longitudinal experience). Housing will be provided at the homes of the physicians. Residents must be in good standing to participate. They are excused from Thursday afternoon conferences during this away rotation. If conferences are available to attend virtually, the resident may opt in to attendance.

If interested, please complete an Elective Request Form! Please contact Dr. Leopold or Dr. Bernheisel if you have any additional questions or concerns.

Participants in the Rural Health Elective are recommended to explore and utilize the Rural Healthcare in America module page in the Global Health Course found here.

Note: This elective will fulfill the required Global Health and Underserved Selective.


Faculty Lead: Chris Bernheisel, MD (Email)
Elective Faculty

  • Katelyn Leopold MD, Leah Eiden MD, and Jeff Eiden MD

    • Putnam County Primary Care

    • 1740 North Perry Street Suite A

    • Ottawa, OH 45875

    • Phone: (419) 523-0012


Schedule

Rotation length: 4 weeks
Resident is to work one on one with the elective faculty in the newborn, nursing home, and outpatient family medicine office. Exact schedule based on the month and resident's goals and interest.


Goals and Objectives

  1. The resident will gain experience and exposure to providing care in a rural family medicine office.

  2. The resident will be exposed to managing a family medicine office in the rural setting.

Objectives

  1. Patient Care

    • Perform a focused history and physical exam based on the differential for the patient's chief complaint.

    • Order and interprets cost effective, evidence based laboratory and imaging studies.

    • Develop and implement complete, cost-effective treatment plans and incorporates the patients preference and health belief model into the plan.

    • Provide culturally sensitive care in the rural office, newborn, and nursing home settings.

    • Appropriately prioritize the probable and potential diagnoses to ensure that attention is given to the most likely, most serious, and most readily treatable options.

    • Perform common office based procedures, including but not limited to: punch biopsy, excisional biopsy, IUD placement, laceration repair, I&D, joint and trigger point injections, splinting, and endometrial biopsy.

  2. Medical Knowledge

    • List the differential for common pediatric, adolescent, adult, and geriatric office based complaints.

    • Describe the evaluation and treatment for common pediatric, adolescent, adult, and geriatric office based complaints.

    • List the indications and complications for common office based procedures.

  3. Practice Based Learning and Improvement

    • Resident exhibits and investigatory approach to knowledge deficits: generates questions, knows where to look up information, can apply the information to the clinical situation, responds to feedback.

    • Resident is able to analyze patient problems and formulate a clinical question using the PICO format.

    • Resident is able to demonstrate improved proficiency when encountering repeat diagnoses or problems (assimilates and applies new knowledge).

    • Demonstrates self-directed learning activities that will lead to personal and professional growth as a physician.

  4. Interpersonal and Communication Skills

    • Resident provides clear verbal explanations or presentations to patients, patient families, or others on the health care team.

    • Counsel patients on key elements of a healthy diet and uses available diet and nutrition resources in the care of the patient.

    • Communicates respect, sensitivity and responsiveness to patient’s culture, age, gender, and disabilities.

  5. Professionalism

    • Demonstrate respect, compassion, and integrity; a responsiveness to the needs of patients and society that supercedes self-interest; accountability to patients, society, and the profession; and a commitments to excellence and on-going development

    • Demonstrate a commitment to ethical principles pertaining to provision or withholding of clinical care,confidentiality of patient information, informed consent, and business practices.

    • Demonstrate sensitivity and responsiveness to patients’ culture, age, gender, and disabilities

  6. System Based Practice

    • Understand how their patient care and other professional practices affect other health care professionals, the health care organization, and the larger society and how these elements of the system affect their own practice.

    • Know how types of medical practice and delivery systems differ from one another,including methods of controlling health care costs and allocating resources.

    • Practice cost-effective health care and resource allocation that does not compromise quality of care.

    • Know how to partner with health care managers and health care providers to assess, coordinate, and improve health care and know how these activities can affect system performance