From Student to Physician in Rural Healthcare

Ashlyn Jenc is on the brink of a full-circle moment as she prepares to join the Rural Physician Associate Program (RPAP) in Staples, MN. As a third-year medical student at the University of Minnesota Medical School Duluth Campus, her journey to becoming a physician is deeply rooted in her experiences at Alexandria Area High School’s Health Sciences & Human Services Academy, a model designed to encourage students to explore careers in medicine.

“A lot of my classes were geared towards preparing you to enter the health field,” Jenc recalls. Her senior year was particularly influential as she enrolled in the healthcare CAPS class, which provided hands-on experiences that were both educational and inspiring.

In this program, Jenc had the opportunity to engage directly with healthcare professionals, participating in simulations that included delivering babies, suturing, and splinting. Beyond these simulations, the class also involved spending time with residents at local nursing facilities, job shadowing various healthcare professions, and hosting numerous guest speakers. These experiences were invaluable, but what truly sparked her interest in medicine was her interaction with the RPAP students who visited her class.

“That was the first time I was exposed to RPAP, and ever since then, I was like, that's a really great program. I want to do that one day, which is why the U of M Medical School Duluth Campus was among my top choice of schools because of RPAP and their rural focus,” she explains.

Now, as she steps into the role of an RPAP student herself, Jenc is eager to give back to the rural communities that inspired her. “I’m really excited to become a part of the community that I’m in for the next nine months, develop close relationships with my patients, and build local connections,” she shares.

Jenc’s passion for rural healthcare is evident as she speaks about the importance of understanding the unique challenges that rural communities face, such as limited resources and barriers to accessing care. Her goal is to learn how to creatively address these issues to ensure that rural patients receive the quality care they deserve. “I’m looking forward to gaining some of those tools being in a rural community firsthand and to use them in my future practice one day,” she says.

Reflecting on her journey so far, Jenc credits the Health Sciences & Human Services Academy for laying the foundation for her medical career. The program’s focus on real-world experiences and community engagement was instrumental in her decision to pursue rural medicine. “It was a very hands-on class in that it was not classroom-based, but more of you are out in the community engaging with local healthcare workers and patients,” she says, emphasizing the program’s impact on her career path.

As Jenc gets ready to start her RPAP year, she's excited to refine her medical skills and make a difference in rural patients' lives. Her journey highlights the impact of educational programs that inspire students from rural areas to pursue careers in healthcare, guiding them to give back to the communities that nurtured their dreams. “I'm excited to go out and do RPAP and have that full-circle moment of once being a student taught by RPAP students and now being in those shoes.”