Role for retired internists in rural, underserved communities

Abstract

Role for retired internists in rural, underserved communities Richard J Santen MD, Emeritus Professor of Medicine, Davison of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., charts the role of retired internists in rural, underserved communities, including diabetes telemedicine. Retired internists could markedly benefit patients by re-entering practice to co-manage patients living in rural, financially challenged, underserved areas. Telemedicine makes this feasible, and partnership with a Federally Qualified Community Health Center in the United States (U.S.) provides a practical approach. (1) Participation in such programs could allow retired internists to share their wisdom while minimizing many of the administrative hassles they previously experienced. Six years ago, the author developed a program tailored to retirees that utilized telemedicine to co-manage patients with diabetes mellitus in three separate Federally Qualified Community Health Centers in rural Virginia. As shown on the map below, there are approximately 1,400 of these health clinics in the U.S. (1-2). His experience led him to the novel idea that expanding such a program nationally by convincing retired endocrinologists to return to practice via telemedicine would benefit patients and be meaningful for physicians.