EC producing hometown medical professionals
Rice, cotton and grain are not the only things that grow in El Campo. According to El Campo Memorial Hospital the potential to rear doctors should also be noted.

Contributed Photo Steve Gularte, CEO El Campo Memorial Hospital, presents Ashley Koudela (left) with a certificate of recognition from the Office of Rural and Community Affairs for the Outstanding Rural Scholar Recognition Program. Koudela will begin her practice as a physician assistant at Mid Coast Medical Clinic upon graduation in 2009.

Through the efforts of the Office of Rural and Community Affairs (ORCA) rural grant program, the Outstanding Rural Scholar Recognition Program (ORSPR) and El Campo Memorial Hospital students from El Campo and the surrounding area who want to become doctors or medical professionals can be eligible for substantial financial assistance through this joint project.

The to its Web site, the Outstanding Rural Scholar Recognition Program is a competitive forgiveness loan program that assists rural communities in "growing their own" health care professionals.

MELISSA KAINER ERWIN. M.D.

The program matches state funds with rural community funds to sponsor individuals pursuing health care professions that are needed in the sponsoring rural community. Upon licensure, the health care professional returns to the sponsoring rural community to practice health care for at least four years.

"Dr. Brian Goerig is one of those students who took advantage of this program and now is an outstanding doctor in our community," Steve Gularte, El Campo Memorial Hospital CEO, said. "The rewards of having Dr. Goerig practice at Mid Coast Medical Clinic far outweigh the financial burden of assisting in paying for his medical education."

ECMH, which is owned by the West Wharton County Hospital District, makes an effort to keep up with the students that it sponsors while in medical school. E-mails and letters are sent and students make contact with administration when they are in town and time permits. "It is exciting to be involved in such a rewarding program. We get to see the students grow from high school, college, medical school and then become doctors," said Gularte.

BRIAN GOERIG, M.D.

At present, Sarah Wendel Severson is taking advantage of the ORCA program in conjunction with El Campo Memorial Hospital and will graduate as a family physician in July 2008 and begin work at Mid Coast Medical Clinic," Gularte said. She is the daughter of Chris and Mary Jane Wendel. While in medical school she met and married Dr. Jud Severson, a nephrologist (kidney specialist) who will relocate to El Campo with his wife and work in MCMC's new dialysis center along with Dr. Irving Gold, a nephrologist based out of Sugar Land. According to Gularte, Dr. Severson will work with that group, but be based in El Campo.

"So the Outstanding Rural Scholar program with Sarah gained us two doctors, which was certainly a benefit to our area," said Gularte.

El Campo Memorial Hospital also has Ashley Koudela in the program, who is studying to be a physician assistant. She will be returning to work in El Campo in August 2009. Koudela is the daughter of John and Cheryl Roach and is married to Jason Koudela, also of El Campo.

Other examples of fairly new homegrown doctors recently returning to El Campo are Dr. Melissa Kainer Erwin, who was born and raised in El Campo and has become a dermatologist, and Dr. Ross Anderson, a dentist whose roots are also here. Neither of these doctors utilized the ORCA program, but both of these doctors have privileges at El Campo Memorial Hospital and contribute to the success of the hospital and the local medical community, Gularte said.

According to ORCA, health organizations located in any one of Texas' 177 non-metropolitan, or rural, counties may sponsor individuals to pursue studies in health care professions needed in the community. Eligible health care professions include medicine, dentistry, nursing, optometry, pharmacy, chiropractic, behavioral health and allied health.

In the case of medical students, the student must complete a residency program in family practice, emergency medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, general surgery, or general obstetrics and gynecology as agreed upon with the rural community sponsor.

To be eligible for recognition as an Outstanding Rural Scholar, a student must be a resident of the state of Texas in accordance with Texas Education Code, Chapter 54, Subchapter B. The student must be nominated and sponsored by an organization in a rural county of Texas and must be enrolled or intend to enroll in an eligible academic institution to pursue a health care career.

"Also anyone interested in studying medicine is encouraged to make an appointment with me to discuss their options of participating in this program," said Gularte.

The hospital is willing to meet with any bright students who have the desire and ambition to become a doctor.

"It is to our advantage to grow as many hometown doctors as we can. This program helps the local hospital and clinic as well as the student," added Gularte.

The amount of the forgiveness loan awards is based on the cost of attendance at the academic institution the scholar will attend, obtained by the nominee from the Student Financial Aid Office at the nominee's academic institution.

An individual is nominated for the Outstanding Rural Scholar Recognition Program by a rural community organization such as a local hospital or hospital auxiliary, rural health clinic, foundation, civic organization, City Council, Chamber of Commerce, Commissioners Court, or any combination of such organizations.

A sponsoring organization may solicit applications from students interested in health care careers at a local high school or college. A community sponsor may nominate more than one individual at a time. The sponsor submits the entire application on behalf of the individual being nominated.

Applications are reviewed by the staff of ORCA to determine completeness and eligibility. Only those applications that meet the eligibility requirements for recognition are then evaluated and ranked by a 12-member advisory committee composed of academic and health care professionals from across the state. Nominees are rank ordered according to their final scores.

Applications are scored based on academic achievements, essay content, sponsor financial commitment, community statement of need and overall quality of the nominee.

Fifty percent of the forgiveness loan is contributed by the sponsoring rural community organization, and the other 50 percent is contributed by ORCA. Scholars may receive aid from other sources, such as grants, while receiving the forgiveness loan; however, the forgiveness loan amount is reduced by the amount of aid from other sources so that the combined aid does not exceed the allowable cost of attendance.

"I guess what we are trying to get across is that doctors do not need to come from outof town or from far away. We have the potential to educate and train our community students of today to be the new health professionals of tomorrow," Gularte said.