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Show Your Doctor Says . . . Tht followint it on of a ttritt of atliclet Britten by mtmbert of tht Utah State Medical Aisociatiun and published in cooperation with yout local newtpapei. Theft article art icheduled to appear every other eek throughout the year in an effort to better acquaint you with problem of health, and detigned to improve tht well bein of tht people of Utah. most Isolated rural araaa. To Induce In-duce properly trainer1 doctors and public health nurses to locate in sufficient numbers (n the sparsely settled sections of our state presents pre-sents many difficulties. The Medical Medi-cal College of the University of Utah Is aware of this and is developing de-veloping a proRram in which medical medi-cal students nearinp; the end of their training may be Riven a short time in rural hospitals where they might acquaint themselves with the attractions of rural practice. Our problem may not be so much a shortage of medical and nursing personnel as faulty distribution of our supply. Proper hospital and health center facilities is closely allied with the shortage of operating; operat-ing; staff. Rural Utah is better supplied than many states however, in this respect Rural education presents many associated health problems such as transportation to and from schools, the school lunch program, school health examinations and immunization immuniza-tion and control of infectious disease. dis-ease. Dental care program, the management of recreation and competitive com-petitive athletic contests, proper nutrition and clothing may be added to the incomplete list of the most engaging of Utah's rural health problem.. The American Medical Association Associa-tion is very concerned about the problems of rural health, since every state has its rural areas. There 4s now a permanent Council of Rural Health, organized as a subdivision of the A. M. A. This Council has a full-time office staff and Field Director who pool resources re-sources material and dispatch information in-formation and assistance wherever needed or requested. The Utah State Medical Association Associ-ation also has an active Rural Health Committee which Is actively engaged In placing physicians in rural areas. This committee is represented regularly at the annual an-nual National Conference on Rural Health and the current developments develop-ments In this field are brought back to the State. The Utah State Rural Health Committee works closely with the Utah State Department of Health and their Public Health nurses. Also there is close working and coordination with the Extension Service of the Utah Agriculture College. There Is now in the process proc-ess of organization a Health Council Coun-cil In each county within the State of Utah, whose membership Is made op of lay as well as professional profes-sional and civic personnel to study the health needs and set In motion the proper machinery to bring about the needed hMlth projects on the County level Rural Health in Utah The term Rural Health Is not meant to imply that there is one kind of health for city dwellers and a different kind for those who live iri the more widely dispersed areas. There are. however, some differences differ-ences in the problems arising In the achieving of good health in rural districts. In the State of Utah most of the population centers in an area within a radius of seventy-five seventy-five miles of Salt Lake City, leaving leav-ing the vast remaining geographic section of the State concerned directly or Indirectly with the problem prob-lem of rural health. Some of the most notable of the many health problems confronting the people of the rural areas of Utah might be listed as follows: Procurement of sdequate pure water and milk supply. Due to the many and varied 3ources of these necessities in many areas proper inspection and control is difficult. Widespread rural areas in Utah continue to use raw milk and untested un-tested water. While there Is evidence evi-dence of an Increasing awareness of the dangers in using impure milk and water, the problem still presents one of the most formidable formida-ble in the rural health of Utah. Sewage disposal. Here again, individual in-dividual family units are almost a necessity in dispersed districts and the possibility f-f pollution of streams, wells and springs being used for human consumption is a constant threat. Animal borne diseases which are communicable to human beings such as Brucellosis, Tularemia. Rabies and others need constant vigilance to Isolate md proper measures mea-sures taken for their control. We cannot be complacent about this problem since all of the above named diseases have been diagnosed diag-nosed b all parts of rural Utah Proper aedleal care both pre-veetJve pre-veetJve and therapeutic presents a watixiuoBs irpblaa ia nay of oar |