SAEMF/CDEM Innovations in Undergraduate Emergency Medicine Education Grant - $5,000
"Exploring Factors that Contribute to Future Placement into Rural Emergency Medicine"
Emergency departments in rural settings have long faced a shortage of board-certified emergency physicians, particularly in comparison to urban or suburban practice environments. Literature showed that rural placements are helpful for residents’
decision to practice in rural areas. However, prior studies designed to determine the factors that drive medical students’ intent to practice in a rural setting have largely focused on the primary care specialty of family medicine, most of which
were conducted outside of the United States.
In an environment where emergency medicine (EM) resident graduates from ACGME accredited residencies are at an all-time high, understanding the factors that lead to choosing rural practice is
of the utmost importance. The long-term goal of this project is to gain a better understanding of the variables related to choosing to practice EM in a rural environment, which will be utilized in improving EM programs to address EM physician workforce
imbalance issues.
Recipient(s)
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Robert Tennill, MD
Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois University
"Exploring Factors that Contribute to Future Placement into Rural Emergency Medicine"
Robert Tennill, MD, is the residency program director and an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine (SIUSOM).
Dr. Tennill earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from Washington University in St. Louis before obtaining his medical degree from SIUSOM. He completed his emergency medicine residency at the University of Kansas Medical Center. After residency, he practiced community emergency medicine at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, followed by positions at Memorial Medical Center and Passavant Area Hospital in central Illinois.
In 2019, Dr. Tennill transitioned to academic emergency medicine, joining SIUSOM’s emergency medicine faculty as assistant professor and clerkship director. He currently serves as the director of undergraduate medical education in emergency medicine and plays an active role in graduate medical education as core faculty and chair of the Clinical Competency Committee. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Illinois College of Emergency Physicians.
Dr. Tennill’s academic and research interests include medical education, curriculum development, simulation, and rural emergency medicine.