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As many as 44 of Louisiana鈥檚 64 parishes are designated as rural. All but one (West Baton Rouge) are also designated by the Louisiana Department of Health as having less than adequate access to healthcare. This is something LSU Health Shreveport鈥檚 rural residency program is working to address, graduating dozens of rural doctors from its clinical site in Vivian, Louisiana, a small town about an hour鈥檚 drive north of Shreveport in Caddo Parish.

Now, LSU Health Shreveport is expanding its successful program across north Louisiana. Partnering with Franklin Medical Center and Ochsner LSU Health Monroe, the program will place its first residents in the small town of Winnsboro this summer.

鈥淚鈥檓 incredibly excited about this program,鈥� said Dr. Christian Bonner, one of the rural residents and LSU Health Shreveport graduates bound for Winnsboro. 鈥淩ural Louisiana is a great place to train. You get to serve so many patients, do so much, treat more complex cases, and that gives you a bit of an advantage compared to training in a major city.鈥�

The logic of the rural residency program in Winnsboro is the same as in Vivian, which both have populations of a few thousand while serving communities who live up to an hour or two away: If you train doctors in rural Louisiana, they鈥檙e more likely to stay. As many as six out of the seven family medicine physicians who work at North Caddo Medical Center, the clinical training site in Vivian, graduated from LSU鈥檚 rural residency program.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the best way to keep them,鈥� said Dr. Logan Atkins, site director of the new rural residency program in Winnsboro. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also the best way to prepare the doctors you need at a smaller hospital. Rural physicians, by necessity, need to be versatile and creative to meet the needs of the community. It takes a desire for a certain type of challenge.鈥�

鈥淎t a larger medical center, I can consult if I want to; I鈥檝e got an army of case managers at my disposal to help me meet patients鈥� social needs; I鈥檝e got people ready to jump in and help with any aspect of the patient鈥檚 care, and that鈥檚 easier for me, jobwise,鈥� Dr. Atkins continued. 鈥淗ere in Franklin Parish, there are days when I have to be someone鈥檚 social worker, psychologist, priest鈥攕ort of everything at once. If they have a cardiology problem, well, I鈥檓 the cardiologist today. So read up! There鈥檚 a surprise waiting behind almost every door.鈥�

Dr. Atkins describes Winnsboro as a 鈥渕eat and potatoes and rice kind of place.鈥� Dr. Bonner agrees, and he would know, since he grew up there.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just rural Louisiana,鈥� Dr. Bonner said. 鈥淰ery, very sweet people who will smile at you, speak to you. But it鈥檚 small. You can be from one end of town to the other in less than five minutes.鈥�

Dr. Atkins is from nearby Crowville.

鈥淣ot many are familiar with Crowville,鈥� Dr. Atkins said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 teeny tiny. There鈥檚 one caution light, a gas station, a couple of churches. I don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e ever been able to find a population estimate.鈥�

鈥淲ell, it鈥檚 bigger than Baskin,鈥� Dr. Bonner said, having recently served a patient from there.

Dr. Bonner graduated from the LSU Health Shreveport鈥檚 medical school in May last year and has since been working at Ochsner LSU Health Monroe. The rural residency program is a total of three years, where the first year is spent at a major medical center (either Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport or Ochsner LSU Health Monroe) and the last two years at a rural hospital. In Vivian, it鈥檚 the North Caddo Medical Center. In Winnsboro, Franklin Medical Center.

鈥淵ou know when you read something in a textbook in school, and you鈥檙e like, there鈥檚 no way I鈥檓 ever going to see this?鈥� Dr. Bonner said. 鈥淭hen, literally my first day here, I got to see some of that stuff. And that鈥檚 the beauty of working in rural Louisiana. I get into situations where I can be creative and inventive, and come up with new ways to help patients.鈥�

Primarily, Dr. Bonner looks forward to serving the community he grew up in for the next two years and beyond.

鈥淚t鈥檚 cliched to say, but I鈥檓 here to help people, and these are my people鈥攙ery loving, very caring, who will do anything in the world for you,鈥� Dr. Bonner said. 鈥淔or me, going through this rural residency program is all about giving back, and that鈥檚 ultimately what made me pick family medicine as a career. When I looked back at my community, they really needed a primary care doctor. Therefore, I鈥檓 not going to have a patient walk through my door and tell them, 鈥業 can鈥檛 help you because I鈥檓 this specialist and you鈥檝e got to see this other specialist.鈥欌��

Franklin Medical Center serves everyone.

鈥淲e鈥檙e a Medicaid and Medicare-dependent hospital鈥攁 lot of people come to us because they don鈥檛 have anywhere else to go that takes their insurance,鈥� Dr. Atkins said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one reason we have to remain vigilant whenever we hear about funding cuts that will really hurt rural health centers and hospitals.鈥�

Meanwhile, Franklin Medical Center offers a wide range of services.

鈥淲e have general surgery, orthopedics, urology. We have an endocrinologist and an oncology group and a dialysis machine. We鈥檙e certainly not a Band-Aid station, which is a misconception we were fighting for a while,鈥� Dr. Atkins said. 鈥淢ost of our patients don鈥檛 even want to go anywhere else, so it鈥檚 been wonderful to see this rural residency program come to fruition to help strengthen our services. Our patients deserve doctors who are committed to and live in the community. Not a revolving door of people who fly in from wherever from a staffing company. That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e thrilled to be working with LSU. We were immediately on board when they approached us.鈥�