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Heartland Medicine

From: Helen Borten
Series: A Sense of Place
Length: 28:58

Young doctors face challenges, provide total care, and live unconventional lives in rural Nebraska Read the full description.

Heartland_small "Heartland Medicine" was included in the second season of A SENSE OF PLACE and distributed by PRI. Meet three young family doctors, all related, who provide total care to farm families in Nebraska. One of them wears an earring, has a tattoo covering his back, makes house calls on a motorcycle and is beloved by his patients. His brother, also a physician in a different rural area, raises horses in his spare time. Go into the examining room and listen to their patients. An intimate portrait of an almost vanished breed: the selfless country doctor. One :15 promo (click "listen" page, promo labeled "Segment 2") One :30 promo (click "listen" page, promo labeled "Segment 3")

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Piece Description

"Heartland Medicine" was included in the second season of A SENSE OF PLACE and distributed by PRI. Meet three young family doctors, all related, who provide total care to farm families in Nebraska. One of them wears an earring, has a tattoo covering his back, makes house calls on a motorcycle and is beloved by his patients. His brother, also a physician in a different rural area, raises horses in his spare time. Go into the examining room and listen to their patients. An intimate portrait of an almost vanished breed: the selfless country doctor. One :15 promo (click "listen" page, promo labeled "Segment 2") One :30 promo (click "listen" page, promo labeled "Segment 3")

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Review of Heartland Medicine

This piece is a periscope into the communities cared for by three country physicians. Through the lens of the doctor/patient interaction, we hear poignant tales from the lives of people living in rural Nebraska. The quality of the sound and the balance between hearing from the doctors and their patients brought me right into their world, as sun-baked, homegrown and eccentric as it is. A beautiful, in-depth, humanistic examination of what it sounds like caring for and being cared for by people you know. This story would work well with news stories about how underserved our rural communities continue to be or how family medicine, once a favorite specialty of the 90s, is becoming a less popular career choice of today's subspecializing medical students.

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Review of Heartland Medicine

A real sense of these communities comes through clearly, as does a sense of the three docs profiled. Lovely tape of patient/doctor interactions, as well as others connected to the health concerns of the community. Lots of problematic issues discussed, no lecturing, just the realities. Good production in every way.
Could air any time or in connection to health, family, community, work programming, or if there’s any congressional action around medical/work/rural concerns. So good I want to hear the rest of the series right away. sl