Variation and disparities between urban and rural environments have been well documented both nationally as well as in the State of Wisconsin. Additionally, an older and aging population in rural Wisconsin presents the need for unique and additional health services. Due to these differences and vulnerabilities, it is essential to examine and monitor Wisconsin’s rural health and communicate this underpinning information to public health practitioners, legislators, and researchers in the field so they may be better informed on future policy and research endeavors. The Wisconsin Rural Health Status Dashboard is an effort to accomplish precisely this feat. The dashboard consists of compiled health data from a variety of sources to specifically assess and annually track the health status of rural Wisconsin.

James Eastman, MD has lived and practiced pathology in Lancaster County, PA for nearly 30 years during which time he also served as Chief of Microbiology and Immunology and then as Director of Laboratories for Lancaster General Hospital. Lancaster has the oldest and one of the largest communities of Older Order Amish in this country. As an outgrowth of their religious beliefs and heritage, the Amish chose to remain separate from the mainstream, and thus constitute an ethnically, culturally and genetically distinct population. The interactions between the Amish community and the surrounding modern world (the "English" as the Amish refer) are complex and often puzzling to those of us not of the Amish community. Eastman has spent part of his career working to understand the beliefs and practices of this community, particularly those that might impact on Amish attitudes about health care. In particular he has worked with Holmes Mort on and Kevin Strauss at the Clinic for Special Children (Strasburg PA) in the study of the metabolic and genetic diseases that are common in the Amish and Mennonite communities. This unique practice setting, built and financially supported by the Amish, blends effective therapy, compassionate care, and cutting-edge metabolic and genetic research in the ultimate translational model. Eastman currently works on continuing to bridge the divide between rural communities in both the medical and legal setting, and further investigating the diseases and health needs specific to the Amish ad Mennonite populations.

After medical school at Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Rakel completed a family practice residency in Greeley, Colorado. He spent the next five years in rural practice as one of two physicians staffing a 14 bed hospital in Driggs, Idaho. Dr. Rakel shares some of his favorite anecdotes from his time in rural practice!

This presentation introduces a framework for identifying, arraying, and evaluating the evidence regarding the fundamental social, economic, and ecological determinants of population health and health disparities; explores the role of related development policies in influencing these fundamental determinants; and suggests alternative models of more health-centered policy and program design incorporating a consideration of the fundamental determinants of health. The vision for reinventing public health is grounded in the concept of a “healthy republic” – in which public decision making takes into account the impacts of policies related to fundamental determinants on the health of the populations targeted by these policies. The central thesis underlying the presentation is that to effectively improve population health and reduce health disparities, policymaking in a variety of domains must take into account policies that address the fundamental social, economic, and ecological determinants of health.

Robert Golden, MD, speaks on "WARM's Role in the Transformation of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health" at the WARM Symposium on August 8, 2007. WARM is a new program within the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health MD Program, that is dedicated to improving the supply of physicians in rural Wisconsin and improving the health of rural Wisconsin communities.

Byron Crouse MD, and Randy Munson, MS from the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health talk with medical students about the economics of rural medical practice. This presentation blends medicine with sociology, economics, and more.