Surrounded by her family, 杰斯·哈拉(医学博士 ’24) held the white envelope in her hands, her future sealed inside. Gathered inside the Mosiac Life Care Medical Center of St. Joseph, the first cohort of the 威尼斯人娱乐城 医学院 St. Joseph Campus, along with their family and friends began the countdown – five, four, three, two, one – to precisely 11 a.m., when graduating medical students across the country simultaneously opened their Match Day letters.
当这一刻终于到来的时候，哈拉撕开信封，她的眼睛扫视着里面的字。 她的脸上绽开了笑容，她高兴地跳了起来，带着激动的泪水转向她的家人。 她的第一选择是堪萨斯大学威奇托分校的家庭医学专业。
一个为农村医疗服务而建的项目
For the members of this inaugural class at the 威尼斯人娱乐城 St. Joseph Campus, the moment is especially significant – it marks the first Match Day for this location. 作为该校于2021年开放的第一批毕业生，这15名学生开辟了新的道路，在更小的社区中实践医疗保健学习。
威尼斯人娱乐城医学院圣约瑟夫校区的设计目的明确：培养下一代农村医生。 该计划为学生提供了一个独特的机会，在较小的医院和诊所学习，在最需要他们的环境中获得实践经验。
杰斯·哈拉：追随她对乡村医学的热情
“I really found my passion while being here at the St. Joseph campus,” Halla said. “Through 威尼斯人娱乐城, they do a docent program, so you get paired with a physician for your four years of medical school. I was paired with a family med physician who really opened my eyes to not only family medicine and how it could play a role in a smaller community, but rural medicine too, and the barriers that they face, and how we can face those things as physicians.”
Halla希望最终能像她的导师一样为农村社区服务，她正在寻找一个实习项目，让她接触到各种各样的医疗实践，这样她就能为农村医生的各种需求做好准备。 而她的伴侣将给她提供这一切。
“I am feeling so excited, so overwhelmed, so thankful and blessed,” Halla said. “I know this is exactly where I'm meant to be, and I'm looking forward to this journey.”
阿什利·艾尔斯：服务服务不足的社区
对于像Halla这样的一些人来说，他们对农村医疗的热情源于过去四年的经历和联系。 Others, like Ashley Ayers (M.D. ’24), knew from the start that St. Joseph’s small setting was the perfect fit.
“I come from a small town of 250, so I was not so keen on living in Kansas City,” Ayers said. “So St. Joseph was the perfect alternative to Kansas City, but still getting a good education from the 威尼斯人娱乐城 curriculum.”
艾尔斯也相信圣约瑟夫是她的正确选择，因为它专注于农村医疗。
艾尔斯成长于一个前往海地的兼职传教士家庭，她在16岁开始加入传教团时发现了自己对医疗保健的热情。 在医学院，她继续追求以服务为基础的医学，完成了在堪萨斯州白云市和加纳农村的美国原住民社区的选修轮转。
“I did an elective rotation in Ghana, and that really helped kind of cultivate that passion and give me a better picture for what it looks like to serve underserved communities internationally,” Ayers said. “It was a rural town, so that was kind of cool to get both the local and international perspective of rural health and what that looks like.”
艾尔斯的首选是密苏里州斯普林菲尔德的CoxHealth家庭医学实习医生。 在那里，她将能够培养她的热情，在联邦合格医疗中心（FQHC）轮岗，为服务不足和边缘化的人群提供护理。
“Programs that offered experience in those kinds of clinics really drew me in because those are the exact populations that I'm hoping to help,” Ayers said. ”That’s kind of where my heart was.”
St. Joseph’s Success
在堪萨斯城和圣约瑟夫校区之间，135名医学院学生和刚毕业的毕业生的匹配率接近100%，高于全国平均水平。 超过50%的人匹配到初级保健，三分之一的人匹配到密苏里州或堪萨斯城都会区。
圣约瑟夫学生的专业范围很广，包括五个家庭医学专业，其他专业包括内科、精神病学、放射肿瘤学、耳鼻喉科、妇产科、整形外科和介入放射学。
“If we scripted what we hoped and prayed would be the success of this program, we could not have scripted it better,” St. Joseph Campus Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Kristen Kleffner, Ph.D., said. “The whole mission of this program was to provide healthcare for those in rural communities, particularly in northwest Missouri, where there are some counties that have but one physician.”
Will Obert：为农村骨科手术做准备
对于像哈拉和艾尔斯这样的一些学生来说，他们的匹配意味着呆在离家近的地方，在与他们希望服务的社区相似的农村社区接受培训。 对其他人来说，他们的比赛是在最终回到小镇训练之前在更大的环境中训练的机会。
Will Obert (M.D. ’24), a Palmyra, Missouri, native, hopes to eventually return to a rural setting after completing his residency. 然而，由于他希望专攻骨科手术，他优先考虑了提供最全面培训的项目。
“I think more so ending up in a rural area when I’m working is more important than where I’m training,” Obert said. “The more rural area that you do training in, you don't see as many complex things sometimes, so I’ll train wherever I think I can get the best training, then end up in a rural area after.”
奥伯特在大学期间因足球受伤接受了膝盖手术，之后他对整形外科产生了兴趣。 后来，在他大三实习期间，他与Timothy Monohan医学博士（一名乡村医院的整形外科医生）一起度过了一段时间后，他巩固了自己的兴趣。
“Just how he treated his patients and worked with the staff in the OR in the clinic, that taught me that there's nothing else that I'd rather do with my life than be an orthopedic surgeon,” Obert said.
奥伯特与他的第一选择相匹配，在宾夕法尼亚州丹维尔的盖辛格卫生系统（Geisinger Health System）攻读骨科住院医师项目，他的导师莫纳汉也是在那里完成了他的住院医师生涯。
展望未来
当圣约瑟夫校区的医学生准备在明年开始实习时分道扬镳时，许多人都在反思他们在这个新校园的时光，以及它如何为他们未来的目标做好准备。
“I wouldn't have changed it for anything,” Obert said. “The camaraderie that we built with a small group was second to none. 这让我和医生们走得更近了。 我每年和我的讲解员吃一两次晚餐，因为我们很亲密。 All in all, I wouldn't have wanted to go anywhere else than St. Joe.”
哈拉也认为，在圣约瑟夫校区学习比在其他地方学习更好。
“It honestly kind of fell into place, but it turned out to be the best experience I could have ever asked for in medical school, especially having those more small class sizes,” Halla said. “I was one-on-one with attending doctors, so I feel like my patient care experience has been astronomical compared to some of my other friends in different medical schools. 我们想看的病人都能看。 We can be as hands on as we want, and that really helped me feel more comfortable and confident in my patient care skills.”
凭借威尼斯人娱乐城医学院圣约瑟夫校区提供的个性化关注和身临其境的患者护理体验，首届毕业生现在准备通过住院医师进入他们医疗旅程的下一阶段。
“The decision what you do in this next phase of your journey is what will define you for the rest of your life,” Dean Emeritus Mary Anne Jackson (B.A. ‘77/M.D. ‘78) told the physicians matching at the St. Joseph Campus celebration. “As you scatter across the country, I know you will continue to make us proud by demonstrating the knowledge, kindness, empathy, compassion and professionalism that you've learned here.”