HOUGHTON, Mich. (WLUC) – On Saturday afternoon, health care professionals and aspiring health care workers spent the morning learning new ways to improve communities like the U.P.

According to a Michigan State associate professor presentor, poverty is one of many issues that contribute to health complications in rural areas. This is the kind of information that was displayed during the second-ever Upper Peninsula Medical Conference at Michigan Tech University. Upper Peninsula Medical conference chair Eric Petushek said this year’s goal is focused on health issues impacting rural communities.

“We have some cardiovascular talks, we also have some lifestyle medicine talks so a pretty diverse but all kind of focus on rural health trying to bring together multiple perspectives to enhance the health of the Upper Peninsula here,” Petushek said.

Petushek also said the conference had a diverse group of presenters. Opening speaker Jean Kerver’s presentation was about the negative effects of areas with no hospitals or maternity services for women.

“Infant and maternal mortality rates are higher among rural women than they are among rural women than they are among their rural carbon parts and part of the reason for that is their services are such a distance to get to,” Petushek said.

Another attendee is a young aspiring future primary care physician. Msu medical student and attendee Llyod Mercier said this conference was a great opportunity to take a break from textbook learning.

“Those things are very like static and when you go to conferences and see speakers and look at posters you get an opportunity to see the dynamic changes in the medical field,” Mercier said. “So it’s a really great learning opportunity and I would highly recommend,”

All organizers and speakers said they hope all attendees learned something new from this conference. Organizers hope to one day end all rural healthcare issues in places like the U.P.

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