Going back to school was the what many people did when the economy tanked a couple years ago, in order to set them apart from others in the highly competitive applicant pool. However, one educational program is helping students give back to their community while giving them experience in a growing industry. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentential, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health has created the Training in Urban Medicine and Public Health (TRIUMPH), aimed at providing students interested in practicing in low-income areas experiences that are not usually prevalent in the traditional curriculum. Katie Davis Fritz, works about a half day a week with the Walnut Way Conservation Corp., educating children about healthy foods, according to the news source. She is one of the eight students in the new program. The program is part of the university's effort to educate and train more doctors who will practice in low-income and rural areas, where there is a shortage of doctors based on the number of people with health insurance and lifestyle choices. "This is a subset that has a special calling," said Jeffrey Stearns, associate dean for medical education at the Milwaukee campus, to the news source. According to the Bureau of Labor Statics, employment of doctors is expected to grow 22% between 2008 and 2018 with most of the growth taking place in rural and low-income areas.  |