McLeod Medical Center Dillon in collaboration with The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) served as a 2-week pre-clinical site rotation for the Rural Interprofessional Student Experience (RISE) program in August 2015. 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 spend three weeks in rural hospitals and other rural clinical settings where they learn about the healthcare delivery system and the challenges facing the delivery of care in rural communities.

Spending time alongside the McLeod Dillon Hospitalists, Audrey Rowen and Michelle Saleeby focused their time on inpatient care. They also had the opportunity to learn of the outpatient care areas and business operations throughout their experience. The mission of the Physician Assistant (PA) program is to prepare compassionate, diverse graduates who enter their careers ready to collaborate with physicians in efforts 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.