ECU Health Chief Executive Officer and Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University Dean Dr. Michael Waldrum recently joined the Raise the Line Podcast to discuss rural health care, his personal journey in medicine and how ECU Health and Brody are advancing the shared mission of improving the health and well-being of eastern North Carolina. Hosted by Osmosis from Elsevier, Raise the Line is a podcast about strengthening global health care systems through education, training and optimizing the workforce to support health care workers.
A passion for rural communities
During his time on the podcast, Dr. Waldrum talked about his background in medicine, from his decision to pursue a medical degree, to his clinical career as an intensivist in critical care medicine, and his robust experience in health system leadership roles. He credits his time growing up in Minnesota near the Mayo Clinic for his rural health care passion.
“As a young person being surrounded by physicians and other health care professionals in a rural community, it was just transformative for me. It was unbelievable,” said Dr. Waldrum. “I lived on Mayo Wood Road. I knew a number of the Mayo family, and to see what that organization did in this rural northern community in Minnesota was incredible. So, it just was something as a young person that I became very interested in because I could make a living taking care of people, which was just an unbelievable opportunity that I still have so much respect for and love for.”
Health care delivery through education
Dr. Waldrum said delivering health care in rural areas is a challenge ECU Health is uniquely positioned to solve, thanks in large part to the Brody School of Medicine, which is a leader in training primary care providers for the state. By training the next generation of providers, many of whom go on to practice in rural communities, the educational component is as important as the health care delivery component.
“I like complex problems,” Dr. Waldrum said. “I like working on these systemic complex issues and so that’s what led me to come to eastern North Carolina. We cover a geographic area the size of Maryland. People aren’t really familiar with the coastal plains of North Carolina, but it’s a huge geography and our organization serves this large geography and is really the safety net anchor institution across this region. Part of that is the academic component, which is the Brody School of Medicine, a great organization whose mission was created to primarily educate primary care physicians to take care of North Carolinians, to improve the health and well-being of this region, and to offer medical education to diverse populations.”
The Brody class of 2023 is a snapshot of Brody’s mission to serve North Carolina by increasing the number of primary care physicians who serve the state. Fifty-two% of the 2023 Brody class matched into primary care residencies — including obstetrics and gynecology — and 44% matched to residency programs in North Carolina. What’s more, Brody’s most recent class features the most medical students who will begin their residency at ECU Health Medical Center in July, which is no coincidence, according to Dr. Waldrum.
“As for ECU Health and Brody School of Medicine, we are creating the model for rural health care by creating a trusted premier education and health care organization that’s a regional-based delivery system and education system,” said Dr. Waldrum. “We have a great team of professionals doing that — multidisciplinary teams. Anybody that wants to join us — that wants to be creating a future for a great region that’s beautiful in eastern North Carolina — if you can get behind that mission, we welcome you because we are in the process of transforming health care for rural America to become that model.”
Looking for more?
Find and listen to the Raise the Line Podcast, Episode 398 – Creating a Model for Healthcare in Rural America wherever you get your podcasts.
