PORT ANGELES — Kayla Luhrs is working to improve her future and the Port Angeles health care system at the same time.
Luhrs, a third-year student from the University of Washington School of Medicine, is nearly two months into a 20-week clerkship at Family Medicine of Port Angeles.
The 23-year-old Ketchikan, Alaska, native is breaking new ground as the first student to work on the North Olympic Peninsula through a UW program that brings advanced medical students to rural communities in a five-state region.
Luhrs is enjoying Port Angeles as she hones her skills under the tutelage of Dr. Rob Epstein of Family Medicine.
She is close enough to her friends at the Seattle campus, and the coastline and topography here remind her of home — minus the 13 feet of annual rainfall.
“I really like it,” Luhrs said of Port Angeles. “I’m from a small town. It’s really comfortable to me here.”
Luhrs is an avid mountain biker, backcountry skier and all-around outdoorswoman.
“Ideally, I would like to have an opportunity to come back,” she said.
Rural physician recruitment is one of the goals of UW’s Rural Integrated Training Experience, or WRITE, program.
The intensive clerkship is designed to give handpicked students a mix of hospital experience in a rural setting.
It is part of UW’s longtime partnership with the states of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho to provide access to publicly supported medical education in states where there is no medical school.
Each state in the consortium has a specific number of medical school seats funded by state dollars and student tuition.
Epstein worked with UW to bring Luhrs to the Peninsula.
“She’s doing great,” Epstein said.
“It’s helpful for me as a doctor, and it’s helpful for the patients.”
Epstein and Dr. William Hobbs of Olympic Medical Center’s Olympic Medical Physicians clinic in Port Angeles are training Luhrs in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics and psychiatry.
“It’s new to Port Angeles,” Epstein said of the WRITE program.
“This is a big deal, not just for Family Medicine, but for the hospital, too.”
Family Medicine of Port Angeles is independent from OMC, though they share patient referrals.
OMC spokeswoman Bobby Beeman said the hospital district supports the WRITE program.
“Olympic Medical Center’s board and administration understand the importance of developing future rural health practitioners, particularly in the area of primary care,” Beeman said.
“The WRITE program fosters medical students to be interested in practicing medicine in the rural health setting, particularly areas such as Clallam County, and we support this through housing and the credentialing process.”
Epstein said Luhrs is “much further through medical school” than students in shorter, specialized clerkships.
Students selected for the WRITE program see more patients and glean practical experience from working a rural community, Epstein said.
Rather than, for example, sending a patient to an urban specialist, Luhrs is walking him or her through the various steps in his or her individual care.
Epstein said he has another medical student lined up for next year and was making arrangements for a third.
“Eventually, the plan for us is to have two students,” he said.
Luhrs, who grew up aspiring to be a dancer, earned her undergraduate degree in zoology from the University of Wyoming.
Ultimately, Luhrs would like to work in family practice and specialize in women’s health.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.