MANTEO, N.C. — The North Carolina Medical Society announced Tuesday that it is bringing a medical Preceptor Hub to Dare County.
Students from several medical schools across the state, including UNC-Chapel Hill and Wake Forest, will shadow and work under current providers for four months at a time beginning this fall.
The first provider partner is Manteo Community Health Center, most likely at its locations on Ocrakoke Island and in Engelhard.
“Long-term it’s our hope that we get these folks down here,” said Franklin Walker, vice president of practice solutions for the North Carolina Medical Society. "They enjoy what they’re seeing here and they come back after they’ve finished their medical education."
The announcement was made during a meeting of the Manteo Healthcare Task Force. It was formed after more than 2,400 patients lost access to primary care after several providers at a clinic retired or left the practice.
“Our initiative is not for any one practice,” said Malcolm Fearing, chair of the task force. "Our initiative is patient care. No matter who serves it, no matter what it is,."
Retiree Dave Stempel is hopeful the new program will bring more practitioners to the region.
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“It’s just that there’s not enough of them around,” he said. "And then if you have specialists, you have to go to Virginia or Greenville, so it would be nice to get some specialists to come down maybe once or twice a month."
Fearing said the program is a strong start, but obstacles to recruitment remain like the cost of housing.
“This issue, I equate it to like beach nourishment: You nourish the beach. The beach looks good, but the storm comes, and you continue to work,” he said. “This is not going to go away, as we grow as a community, our needs, whether it’s mental health care, addiction, our needs are going to grow.”
The society hopes to attract more medical schools and more providers to give the program wider reach.
