Tag: rural
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Can We Fix Alabama’s Rural Physician Shortage?
It takes up to 10 years to train a physician. That decade of training is just one contributing factor for the reason the United States is facing a serious shortage of physicians. Other factors include the growth and aging of the population and the impending retirements of older physicians. While medical schools have increased enrollment…
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Curry Named Local Governor of National Doctors’ Group
BIRMINGHAM — William A. Curry, M.D., has been named governor of the Alabama Chapter of the American College of Physicians, the national organization of internists. Dr. Curry is a professor of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and associate dean for Primary Care and Rural Health at the UAB School of Medicine. The Board of…
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New Study Inspires Researchers to Hit the Road
A new $21.4 million RURAL study will examine rural, southern U.S. communities to find out why people there have more disease, shorter lives. Traveling in a mobile examination van, researchers will examine 4,000 study participants over the course of six years in 10 rural counties across Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Vasan Ramachandran, who leads the Framingham…
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National Rural Health Day is Nov. 15!
National Rural Health Day is an annual observance that emphasizes the importance of rural America and promotes the need for accessible, high-quality health care. National Rural Health Day falls on the third Thursday in November each year and recognizes the efforts of those serving the health needs of over 60 million people across the nation.…
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POLL: Rural Americans “Profoundly Worried” about Opioid Crisis
BOSTON — According to a new NPR/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health poll, rural Americans cite drug/opioid abuse as the biggest problem facing their local community (25 percent), followed by economic concerns (21 percent). The poll of 1,300 adults living in the rural United States found that a majority of rural Americans…
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Association Special Committee Looks at Solving Manpower Shortage
MONTGOMERY – Earlier this week, the Association’s Manpower Shortage Task Force met in person for the first time to begin addressing a resolution adopted by the House of Delegates at the 2018 Annual Meeting in April. The resolution, submitted by the Pickens County Medical Society, directs the Association’s new task force to develop and restore…
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With Net Neutrality Gone, What’s in the Future for Physicians?
Net neutrality changed the digital landscape for millions of Americans, specifically physicians and health care professionals, but these changes may diminish due to the repeal of net neutrality. In December, the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal the net neutrality rules set in place by the Obama Administration in 2015, and on June 11, 2018,…
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What If No One Was On Call [at the Legislature]?
2018 Recap of the Regular Session of the Alabama Legislature In times of illness, injury and emergency, patients depend on their physicians. But what if no one was on call? Public health would be in jeopardy. However, the same holds true for the Legislature. During the 2018 session alone, if the Medical Association had not…
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Centreville Physician Receives National Recognition
Centreville physician John Waits was the only Alabama physician to be recognized by the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health’s 2017 Community Stars Program. Dr. Waits was one of 31 honorees during the 2017 National Rural Health Day working tirelessly to improve, protect and advance health and wellness in our rural communities. Dr.…
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CDC Reports Rising Rates of Drug Overdose Deaths in Rural Areas
Rates of drug overdose deaths are rising in nonmetropolitan (rural) areas, surpassing rates in metropolitan (urban) areas, according to a new report in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Drug overdoses are the leading cause of injury death in the United States,…