ENROLLED
2016 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 64
BY REPRESENTATIVE MONTOUCET
A RESOLUTION
To commend the Rural Scholars Track program at the Louisiana State University (LSU)
Health Sciences Center New Orleans.
WHEREAS, as of the 2010 census, nearly 27% of Louisiana's population is rural;
and
WHEREAS, 97% of Louisiana parishes contain areas that have been designated as
health professional shortage areas; and
WHEREAS, as the major source of the state's physician work force, LSU Health
Sciences Center New Orleans is committed to increasing the number of primary care
physicians practicing in rural and medically underserved communities; and
WHEREAS, to help meet the state's physician needs, LSU Health Sciences Center
New Orleans developed the Rural Scholars Track, which began accepting students in 2002;
and
WHEREAS, The Rural Scholars Track is administered by the Department of Family
Medicine, which is headed by Dr. Mary T. Coleman; and
WHEREAS, students who join the Rural Scholars Track can receive up to four years
of tuition exemptions; and
WHEREAS, to be eligible for participation in the program, a student must agree to
practice primary care medicine in a rural or medically underserved community upon
completion of his or her residency training; and
WHEREAS, admission to the program is open to interested students who have been
accepted into the School of Medicine; and
WHEREAS, during their third and fourth years of study, student participants study
in Lafayette at University Hospital & Clinics and spend one day each week with their rural
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preceptors, primary care physicians who practice medicine near their hometowns or their
future practice locations; and
WHEREAS, to date, there have been eighty-four participants in the program; forty-
three of whom are currently practicing primary care in rural Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, the Rural Scholars Track program at the LSU Health Sciences Center
New Orleans ranks first in the nation in the number of graduates practicing medicine in rural
areas.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend the Rural Scholars Track program at the
LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, as well as the faculty and staff of the Department
of Family Medicine, for their contributions to the health of Louisiana citizens by increasing
the number of primary care physicians practicing in rural and medically underserved areas
of Louisiana.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a suitable copy of this Resolution be transmitted
to Dr. Mary Coleman and the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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