MADISON — A recent college graduate from Monroe will participate in a sought-after rural medical education program through the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.

Paul Skelton will spend the next four years in medical school to pursue a career as a rural medical professional. Skelton was accepted to the Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine program of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. The program is a nationally recognized initiative that prepares and supports students who intend to practice in rural Wisconsin and help improve the health of those communities. 

The program was created due to the shortage of physicians in rural Wisconsin. In fact, while 29 percent of Wisconsin residents live in rural locations, only 13 percent of physicians in Wisconsin have rural practices.

In the rural medicine program, students complete their first 18 months of medical school in Madison at the School of Medicine and Public Health. Students will spend the remaining years of medical school at Aurora BayCare in Green Bay, Gundersen Health System in La Crosse and Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield, along with networks of rural hospitals and clinics. 

Students also participate in regular core days at their sites to focus on a specific topic from a rural perspective and complete a community health project. 

Only 26 students are accepted for the program each year and admission is limited to applicants who are legal residents of Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois or Iowa.