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Corresponding Author

Treah Haggerty: haggertyt@hsc.wvu.edu

Author Affiliations

  1. Treah Haggerty, MD, MS: Director, Rural Scholars Program, Professor, Department of Family Medicine (Morgantown WV); E-mail: haggertyt@hsu.wvu.edu; ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8327-686X
  2. Jessica Stidham, MA: Program Coordinator, Rural Community Health Scholars, West Virginia Institute for Community and Rural Health
  3. Stephan Brooks, MPH: Special Projects Coordinator, West Virginia Area Health Education Centers
  4. Abigail Cowher, BA: Medical Student, School of Medicine, West Virginia University (Morgantown WV)
  5. Sandra Pope, MSW: Director, West Virginia Area Health Education Centers
  6. Patricia Dekeseredy, MScN, RN: Clinical Research Specialist, Department of Neurosurgery, WVU Medicine
  7. Cara L. Sedney, MD, MA: Residency Program Director, Associate Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University

Author Area of Expertise

Treah Haggerty- Rural Scholars, Mixed Methods, Health Policy

Jessica Stidham- Rural Health, Health Education

Stephan Brooks- Rural Health, Health Education

Abigail Cowher- Stigma, Access to Care, Education

Sandra Pope- Rural Health, Health Education

Patricia Dekeseredy- Qualitative Methods, Health Policy, Rural Healthcare Providers

Cara L Sedney- Medical Education, Health Disparities, Employee Wellness

Abstract

Introduction: Conventional academic rotations lack in-depth exposure to rural community members, systems, and resources surrounding specific rural-focused health issues.

Purpose: This study aims to explore health professional students’ experiences within a community-based multidisciplinary rural immersion through their personal reflections.

Methods: Written reflective entries were extracted from the online classroom system from 2019–2021. Data analysis was guided by thematic analysis. An iterative process of qualitatively coding the interviews was conducted. Themes were reviewed and agreed upon by consensus and assessed for validity by two senior researchers.

Results: Sixty-two reflective essays were included from 11 unique professional programs. Resulting themes included (1) immersion was a transformative experience, (2) immersion experiences resulted in planned future practice changes, (3) immersion provided increased familiarity with stigmatizing diagnoses and contact with stigmatized groups, and (4) the experience provided knowledge of resources for future practice.

Implications: Rural immersions provide a rich understanding of cultural identities, health systems, and health issues in a specific rural environment. Through the immersive experience, students identified future practice considerations, placed context to stigma and its effect on health, and concretely demonstrated interprofessional resources in rural clinical practice.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.13023/jah.0604.03

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Haggerty T, Stidham J, Brooks S, Cowher A, Pope S, Dekeseredy P, Sedney C. Rural reflections of Appalachia: a qualitative study of health professional students’ experiences from a rural immersion experience in West Virginia. J Appalach Health 2025;6(4):10-27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.13023/jah.0604.03

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