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State leaders hope a new program will encourage more medical providers and facilities to offer free care to some of Wyoming’s poorer residents. Wyoming’s Volunteer Health Services Program was created earlier this year by the state Legislature. The gist of the program is this: If a licensed healthcare provider or medical facility agrees to provide voluntary, free services to low-income Wyoming residents, the state government will effectively shield them from legal liability (i.e. medical malpractice suits) for that care. (Powell, 11/4)

Foreign-born physicians help fill the gaps, especially in primary care. There are not enough American-born doctors to supply that need, says Dr. William Salazar of Augusta University’s Medical College of Georgia, who came to the U.S. from Colombia. Rural Georgia has a higher percentage of immigrant doctors than urban areas, says Jimmy Lewis of HomeTown Health, an association of rural hospitals in Georgia.(Miller, 11/4)

This year, more new medical students are starting their careers in Spokane than in Seattle. Why does it matter? Here in Washington and elsewhere across the nation, there’s a shortage of physicians in rural areas and small cities, a problem that’s expected to worsen as a generation of baby-boom doctors retires. The hope is that getting students to train in Eastern Washington will sway more of them to stay east of the mountains, or to make their homes in smaller communities and rural areas, and to focus on primary care instead of specialty medicine — known for being more lucrative. (Long, 11/4)

Ohio State’s medical college has a program focused on teaching students to address not only individual but community health as well. Students work in neighborhoods to improve the health of a specific, underserved population. (Viviano, 11/5)