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August 14, 2019

QU med school earns fed grant for rural residency

PHOTO | Courtesy Quinnipiac University The Center for Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Quinnipiac University.
By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

While we have a wealth of choices when it comes to choosing a doctor in Connecticut, residents in rural areas like northern Maine aren’t so lucky.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services is awarding $20 million in grant money through its Rural Residency Planning and Development Program to close this gap. 

Quinnipiac University recently announced that its Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine received a $750,000 grant. The 27 recipients around the country are charged with developing new rural residency programs. QU officials plan to do so in rural Maine. 

John W. Morgan, Quinnipiac’s associate vice president for public relations, said the money will fund the development of the school’s first Family Medicine Residency program. It will be based at the Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent, a 50-bed facility which serves about 12,000 people, and at Northern Light AR Gould Hospital in Presque Isle, an acute-care facility.

QU’s School of Medicine, which opened in 2013, plans to recruit four residents each academic year for the program. Namesake Netter was a surgeon and medical illustrator whose drawings have been used in anatomy textbooks for decades.

Bruce Koeppen, dean of the School of Medicine, said building a family medicine residency program in rural Maine is part of the school’s strategic plan. He said the school is committed “to training the primary care workforce this country so desperately needs, especially for those living in rural communities.” 

Traci Marquis-Eydman, MD, who teaches at the School of Medicine, grew up in northern Maine and witnessed her family struggle to find and keep a primary care physician. She said lack of access to care means poorer health outcomes for rural residents when compared to their urban counterparts.

“We are thrilled and honored to be one of the recipients,” Marquis-Eydman said in an announcement. “On a personal level, I am also delighted for the people in my community in northern Maine.”

According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, physicians are more likely to choose a rural practice if their training included a rural rotation.

For more information, please visit qu.edu. 

Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com

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