EVMS staff member named to national Rural Health Fellows program

Robert Alpino has been named a 2016 Rural Health Fellow by the National Rural Health Association (NRHA). An Instructor in the School of Health Professions and Director for the Eastern Virginia Area Health Education Center, Mr. Alpino is one of just 16 accepted from across the country.

He will participate in a yearlong fellowship aimed at developing leaders who can articulate a clear and compelling vision for rural America. The program includes leadership training seminars and a national rural-health policy analysis.

NRHA is a nonprofit organization that works to improve the health and well-being of rural Americans and to provide leadership on rural-health issues through advocacy, communications, education and research. Mr. Alpino was selected as a fellow for his work at EVMS to introduce students to rural medicine during their clinical rotations and service learning projects.

“Rural areas face unique health-care challenges,” Mr. Alpino says, “including populations that are generally older and that are more likely to be participants in public insurance programs or uninsured. By exposing EVMS students to rural practice, we hope to interest them in practicing medicine in the rural environment during their careers.”