(8/10/11) – McLeod Medical Center Dillon has collaborated with The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) as a partner in the Rural Interprofessional Student Experience (RISE) program. Since opening in 1995, the PA program at MUSC has focused on primary care and placement of students in medically underserved communities with the help of the South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium (SCAHEC). Students in the Physician Assistant (PA) program at MUSC that are participating in RISE will spend three weeks in rural hospitals and other rural clinical settings where they learn about the healthcare delivery system and the challenges affecting the delivery of care in rural communities.

Spending time alongside the McLeod Dillon Hospitalists, Amanda Descalzo, Whitney Harris, and Ryan Stout focused on inpatient care. The mission of the Physician Assistant (PA) program at MUSC is to prepare compassionate, diverse graduates to collaborate with physicians to provide high quality health care to all patients. After completing their observations at McLeod Dillon, the students prepare a presentation about the delivery system of healthcare in a rural hospital setting.

About the Hospitalist Program at McLeod Dillon
A Hospitalist is a medical doctor whose primary professional focus is the medical care of hospitalized patients. Hospitalists are based in the hospital and specialize in all aspects of a patient’s care from admission to discharge. Often, if a patient is under the care of a Hospitalist, they may not have a primary care physician or their primary care physician does not care for patients in a hospital setting.

Because the Hospitalist Team does not maintain a private outside practice, their time is devoted solely to caring for hospitalized patients. If a patient has a primary care physician, the Hospitalist Team will communicate directly with this physician providing routine updates and further recommendations for the patient’s continued recovery.