Student Rural Health Association

Student Groups

If you are interested in joining the IUPUI Student Rural Health Association, please contact Carole Kacius at (317) 274-3847 or kacius@iupui.edu.

If you are interested in joining the Wabash Valley Collegiate Rural Health Association, please contact Tina Elliott at (812) 478-3919, Ext. 222, or email at telliott@indianarha.org.

Public Health Officials Hope to Attract Students to Rural Health Careers

INDIANAPOLIS - Just think about rural Indiana.

That’s the message the Department of Public Health at the IU School of Medicine and the Indiana Rural Health Association are delivering to undergraduate, graduate and professional students in Indiana pursuing health-related degrees

“We want to entice people studying in health fields to consider life in rural Indiana,” said Carole Kacius, director of the Master of Public Health Program in the Department of Public Health at IUPUI. “Rural Indiana has a lot to offer and rural Indiana needs health professionals.”

The Department of Public Health and the Indiana Rural Health Associated have joined forces to spread the word about rural health issues, policy, research and advocacy through a series of monthly events called “Frontiers in Health: Career Opportunities in Rural Health.”

Undergraduate, graduate and professional students in the fields of dentistry, health administration, health economics, health informatics, environmental health, medicine, mental health, nursing, optometry, pharmacy, public health, statistics, veterinary medicine, wellness management, and other health related fields are invited to attend the monthly meetings. Those interested are asked to contact Kacius at Kacius@iupui.edu, or for more information call her 317-274-3847.

According to Kacius, the purpose of the monthly meetings is to provide a network for all students interested in relevant rural health issues; raise awareness of the disciplines involved with rural health provision, policy and research; provide a forum for students to express their ideas, concerns and experiences in dealing with rural health issues; and illustrate and promote grass roots rural health advocacy in Indiana.

Efforts such as promoting rural health opportunities fit in with the Department of Public Health’s mission to improve the health of the residents of Indiana through teaching, research and community practice programs.