For the first time in modern history, more people are now living in cities than in rural areas. That includes doctors, leaving many small communities with no primary care physician. However, a new program at Kansas University may change that.

“We need more doctors. A quarter of all of our physicians in Kansas are 60 years or older. So we need to be replacing physicians too,” says Dr. William Cathcart-Rake, who directs a new program at Kansas University which is designed to provide those physicians.

The idea is to get medical school students to practice in rural Kansas by educating them in the state’s smaller communities.

According to Cathcart-Rake, students from rural areas typically go off to medical schools in Wichita and Kansas City.

“They say they have every intention of coming back to rural Kansas but they meet a soul mate, they get married. Their soul mate happens to be from a big city and we never see them agai. They get captured in the big city," he says. "Hopefully, if we train them in smaller communities, they can meet their prospective spouses here, they can network here and they have those connections which can be lifelong.”

The program is based in the small town of Salina - population 50,000 - which is about a three-hour drive from Kansas City, past corn and soybean fields and the occasional cattle ranch. The medical school in downtown Salina is housed in a three-story brick building which was refurbished specifically for the program.

The first thing you notice is that the professor is not in the room. Instead, he appears on a flat-screen monitor at the front of the classroom.

“It's set up with interactive TV, so we have two monitors. On one, we see the lecturer's slides, and on the other monitor, we see video of the lecturer,” says Claire Hinrichsen, a student in the Salina program. “Most of our lecturers are out of Kansas City. Today, our lecturer was in Wichita.”

The professor in Wichita also has a video feed of the Salina classroom. When students have a question, they raise their hand and speak into the microphone built into their desk.

Hinrichsen grew up in Lecompton, Kansas, a town of about 600 people. One of the reasons she chose the Salina program is because of the size of the class. There are only eight students, making it the smallest medical school in the country.

“I really like it. I know everybody in my class," she says. "We are close and it's a nice feeling. It goes back to when I went to KU (Kansas University), so I went to a big school, and I'm getting back to the small feel.”

Other classes are taught by professors in Salina, and students will get hands-on training throughout the four-year program. Then each one will go on to a residency in a small community in the surrounding area.

Dr. Kerry Murphy is a family physician at the Clay Center Clinic, about 100 kilometers northeast of Salina. Chances are at least one of the eight students in the program will do a residency here.

“This is a clinic that has currently eight doctors and four mid-level practitioners and we cover this town, but we also have satellite clinics in two nearby towns," Murphy says. "We operate as what I call a cradle-to- grave operation, we deliver babies and go up to doing nursing home care.”

It's unlikely that there will ever be enough primary care physicians for every small town to have its own doctor. Cathcart-Rake expects several doctors will work out of a central clinic, like Clay Center, and see patients at satellite clinics spread out around the county, like spokes of a wheel.

“Clay Center is a great model for what I foresee as what a primary care center in Kansas might be,” he says.

At the end of their residency, the students will have spent six years in rural communities in Kansas. Cathcart-Rake hopes that will be enough time for them to put down roots.

“And it's gonna hopefully harder for them to break away from those roots and go to bigger cities.”

One thing that could lure them away is money. Rural doctors typically serve older, poorer patients and going into a specialty practice in a big city tends to be far more lucrative. And with the high cost of medical school, it's difficult for graduates to turn down those opportunities. So the Salina program is offering extra financial incentives to help them resist.

“It's called the KMS, the medical student repayment program,” says Claire Hinrichsen, one of the five medical students who signed up for it. “For every year you give back to a rural area they pay for all our tuition.”

That means, if they practice in an underserved county for four years, they will have essentially gotten their medical degree for free. But, Cathcart-Rake says there’s a catch.

“If they don't practice primary care in an under-served area, they have to pay that back, with interest. So they have got those hooks in them. We hope this innovative program will keep students close to their roots. But only time will tell.”

詞匯講解：

1. replace vt. 取代;以...代替
例句：Electric lights have replaced candles.
電燈已經(jīng)取代了蠟燭,。

2. prospective adj. 預(yù)期的; 未來的; 可能的
例句：Is she a prospective buyer?
她可能成為我們的顧客嗎?

3. spouse n. 配偶, 夫或妻
例句：Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.
她的配偶星期天要來看她,。

4. refurbish vt. 刷新;擦亮;使清潔,；整修
例句：They’re refurbishing the old theatre.
他們正在整修那所舊劇院,。

5. notice vt. 注意
例句：I didn't notice you when you passed by.
你走過時, 我沒有注意到你,。

6. cover vt. 遮蓋;覆蓋; 包含;適用于
例句：His reading covers a wide range of subjects.
他閱讀的書籍涉及多種學(xué)科,。

7. deliver vt. 助產(chǎn)
例句：The midwife delivered her sister.
那位助產(chǎn)護(hù)士給她妹妹接生。

8. foresee vt. 預(yù)知,，預(yù)見,，預(yù)料，看穿
例句：No one can foresee what will happen in the future.
誰也無法預(yù)見到將來會發(fā)生什么事,。

9. lure vt. 引誘,誘惑;以誘餌吸引
例句：The price also lures students.
這種價格對學(xué)生也有吸引力,。

10. tuition n. 學(xué)費(fèi)
例句：Her yearly tuition is $2, 000.
他一年的學(xué)費(fèi)是兩千美元。

短語講解：

1. According to Cathcart-Rake, students from rural areas typically go off to medical schools in Wichita and Kansas City.

go off爆炸,，發(fā)射,；動身，離開,；去世
例句：I'd better have waited till the rain went off.
我當(dāng)時要是等雨停再走就好了,。

2. Their soul mate happens to be from a big city and we never see them agai.

happen to碰巧
例句：I happen to have the latest population statistics with me. 
我手頭正好有最新的人口統(tǒng)計資料。

3. It's set up with interactive TV, so we have two monitors.

set up with提供…給…
例句：The new library can set me up with enough reading matter for a month at a time.
圖書館一次可為我提供足夠看一個月的讀物,。

4. When students have a question, they raise their hand and speak into the microphone built into their desk.

build into使成為…的一部分
例句：He built those pieces of wood into a box.
他用那些木片做成一個箱子,。

5. Hinrichsen grew up in Lecompton, Kansas, a town of about 600 people.

grow up長大, 成熟
例句：Tom wants to be a coach when he grows up.
湯姆長大后想當(dāng)教練,。

6. It goes back to when I went to KU (Kansas University), so I went to a big school, and I'm getting back to the small feel.

get back找回, 取回
例句：I haven't got back the book I lent him.
我還沒有收回我借給他的那本書,。

7. Then each one will go on to a residency in a small community in the surrounding area.

go on to進(jìn)入
例句：We should go on to the next item for time is short.
時間不多了, 我們應(yīng)該談下一項內(nèi)容。

8. Cathcart-Rake expects several doctors will work out of a central clinic, like Clay Center, and see patients at satellite clinics spread out around the county, like spokes of a wheel.

spread out伸展; 延長; 分散
例句：The resources are spread out too thin.
資源分布得極為貧乏,。

9.And it's gonna hopefully harder for them to break away from those roots and go to bigger cities.

break away與…決裂; 從…退出; 改掉; 放棄; 突然離開; 突然掙脫
例句：I broke away from the association ten years ago.
我10年前就脫離了那個團(tuán)體,。

10. And with the high cost of medical school, it's difficult for graduates to turn down those opportunities.

turn down拒絕
例句：His request for a rise was turned down.
他要求加薪, 被拒絕了,。

11. If they don't practice primary care in an under-served area, they have to pay that back, with interest.

pay back償還
例句：I am sure that he will pay back every cent he owes you.
我敢肯定他會分文不差地把欠款還給你。