Rural Residency Program

Rural populations often struggle when it comes to accessing quality healthcare. Whether qualified doctors are too far away or scheduling delays prove too discouraging, patients in rural locations often do without. However, the 16,000 residents of Bledsoe County benefit from outstanding medical care close to home, thanks to a partnership between Erlanger and UT Health Sciences.

Now in its second year, UT Health's Family Medicine Rural Track program encourages new physicians to carry out their clinical training in a community that really needs them. These students complete their first year of residency at Baroness Hospital and spend years two and three of their residency onsite in Pikeville, Tenn. Dr. Andrew Smith, a Pikeville native, leads this program and says the project offers outstanding benefits to community members and the residents who treat them. “We’re almost ingrained with this belief that you have to be in the biggest academic center to receive good care and to actually get a good education, but we have an extensive patient population with rare and unique conditions,” Dr. Smith said.

Learn more about Erlanger's status as a teaching hospital and how we partner with UT Health Sciences to foster high-quality, compassionate care for all.