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W O R K F O R M E / S P R I N G 2 0 2 5 20 "We do a pretty good job with retention. Once people decide they want to live in a rural community, and they relocate, and get to work with us, I think people really enjoy it," says Dr. Ryan Knapp, regional vice president of physician and advanced practice provider ser- vices at MaineHealth's mountain region. "The problem is, when somebody leaves for whatever reason, sometimes that's a big chunk of the care that we provide. For example, we may have three general surgeons in one of our rural communities. So, when one general surgeon leaves, it's 33% of your capacity that just van- ished. Whereas, if you take like a larger group and some of the larger health systems, maybe they have eight general surgeons, so it's proportionally less of an impact." Advancing technology, espe- cially in the world of telehealth, is also changing the way care is administered, allowing patients to have consults with specialists who may be in city hospitals such as Portland. Zoom and AI may also present future remote job opportunities and accessibility to more isolated areas of Maine. While compensation, loca- tion and work environment are motivating factors for recruit- ment, rural health care offers a "personal touch" that might be lacking in larger systems. Speaking as a doctor in a rural area himself, Knapp believes that working in this environ- ment has allowed him to become an adaptable, creative problem solver, who uses the full scope of his medical training. "I think there's a lot of myths about what it's like to practice in a rural environment. I think keeping an open mind of how it can be a really rewarding place to practice medicine is impor- tant," Knapp says. "Patients are very thankful in the rural en- vironment, their expectations are different, and because of that, you get a lot more positive feedback from your patients than you might in some other practice environments. They really do appreciate everything that our physicians, advanced practice providers, and nurse practitioners do for them." n W o r k f o r c e There's a lot of myths about what it's like to practice in a rural environment. — Dr. Ryan Knapp MaineHealth Helene Kennedy, MaineHealth P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F M A I N E H E A L T H P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F M A I N E H E A L T H « C O N T I N U E D F R O M P R E V I O U S PAG E Dr. Ryan Knapp