As a medical student, I have had the opportunity to work at a number of rural hospitals throughout Utah and across the Intermountain West. I was surprised to learn, however, that many rural hospitals not only serve residents of their rural communities, but also provide care to patients who do not live nearby.

During the month I spent in a small rural hospital in Idaho, for example, I helped take care of an impressive variety of maladies. Perhaps more impressively, my team cared for a startling diversity of patients — not just locals, but also tourists, travelers and seasonal workers. We evaluated a local lady who was feeling dizzy and also stabilized a man who was visiting the area when he got into a horrible car accident. We cared for a child with an asthma exacerbation from wildfire smo

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