Their visits, and the visits of UAMS faculty to Russia, have spawned friendships and allowed the Russians to take home a valuable piece of Arkansas's hard-earned, openly shared experience. We feel very good that we have been able to help our Russian counterparts. Of course, it's the ultimate compliment to us. It was part of a sweeping effort by Russia to adopt certain western ways with the hope of reviving the weak economies of the former Soviet republics. With respect to health care, Russia's vast rural region around and below Volgograd has been badly under-served.
Family medicine is a foreign concept.
Folks in the rural areas who need medical care usually have to trek to distant centers. Think about Arkansas prior to the 1970s. With the state's medical training limited to Little Rock, one of the biggest problems Arkansans faced was draining of their medical students from the rural regions. After graduation they tended to find medical residency programs outside the state and never return. The result was a shortage of medical doctors statewide, and acute shortages in the less populated areas.