‘No other place’ than Idaho: Rural medical program aims to boost physician ranks

TWIN FALLS – Jordan Richter, a budding medical doctor, looks at home as he walks the halls of the Family Health Services clinic, wearing a stethoscope snugly around his neck and a look of confidence on his face.

He is gaining valuable experience this summer at FHS as he’s trained in family medicine by Twin Falls doctor Cathy Canty in a program designed for rural, underserved regions of the country.

It will be years before he earns the M.D. title at the end of his name, but he has set his sights on practicing in Idaho when he does earn that prized medical license.

That dedication is a win for the Gem State as it struggles with physician numbers. Idaho has been mired for years among the lowest numbers of physicians in the country per capita.

Those low numbers puzzle Richter, who envisions Idaho as a great place to practice medicine.

“There is no other place I’d rather live,” he said.

A Louisiana native, Richter became enamored by the state, especially northern Idaho, when he moved there in 2013, intending to stay a short time with his brothers-in-law. He never left.

“I fell in love with the area and the beautiful mountains,” he said. “The Clearwater River is just gorgeous.”

Plus, he has since married an Idaho bride, who happens to be from Twin Falls.

“That locked me in and I’ve been in Idaho ever since,” Richter said. The couple now has four kids ranging in age from 6 months to 6 years.

The 32-year-old took a circuitous route before settling on his medical aspirations. He’s held several jobs since coming to Idaho, including corrections officer.

After his various jobs, becoming a doctor is “where I thought I could do the most good and help the most people,” he said.

His first exposure to the field of medicine came when he served as a combat medic in the National Guard. Richter has a military background, being enrolled in ROTC at the University of Idaho and commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army.

He will serve a seven-year deployment as a doctor in the army after medical school.

“The good news,” Richter said, “is when I come back I will be an experienced physician, and get to work right away.”

Even if someone chooses not to join the military, there are other financial incentives available for doctors if they choose to practice in rural Idaho, he said. For example, the Rural Physician Incentive Program (RPIP) offers loan repayment assistance to primary care physicians who agree to practice in health professional shortage areas of Idaho that demonstrate a need for assistance in physician recruitment.

Richter entered medical school in 2022, participating in the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) multi-state program through the University of Washington School of Medicine. Idaho offers classes on the University of Idaho campus in Moscow and about 40 students graduate each year in the program, which started in 1971 with the goal of increasing the number of primary care physicians throughout the northwest United States.

What brings him to Twin Falls is his taking part in the Rural Underserved Opportunities Program (RUOP), designed for medical students between their first and second years.

Paired with Canty, Richter is getting a feel of what it’s like to be a family practitioner.

“I feel I have learned a lot of how to treat patients by working with a great physician like Dr. Canty,” he said. “She loves her patients – she loves every single one of them.”

Rural medicine can have a more personal feel than that of a busy office in more populated areas of the country, Richter said.

“I think in working in a big city and seeing people for the first time, you can’t get to know patients as well,” he said. “You don’t have that personal connection.”

During his four-week stay in Twin Falls, he has talked to a lot of patients, obtaining medical histories and inquiring what medical issues they are dealing with and answering questions and concerns patients have. He sometimes accompanies Canty into the examination rooms.

His experience has given him insight into family medicine, although he has leanings toward emergency medicine.

He is intrigued by the idea of solving a medical puzzle.

“That is a lot of emergency medicine,” Richter explained. “Patients come in with symptoms and you have to put the pieces together and figure out the root cause.”

His experience at Family Health Services this summer has also taught him more skills as a questioner.

“That is one of the biggest things, is knowing what questions to ask,” he said. “You ask the right question at the right time and it can make a world of difference.”

In addition to his experience with RUOP, he has worked with patients in Moscow, regularly going to hospitals and asking them about their medical problems.

The WWAMI program differs from many other medical programs in that it gets people to the real world of medicine faster, Richter said.

“In most medical schools, for the first couple of years, you are in a classroom 100% of the time,” Richter said, “you don’t start interacting with patients until the third year.”

And, day by day, Richter said he’s improving his skills and is grateful to gain additional knowledge from Canty.

“She is able to answer any question I have and help me with things I don’t know,” he said.