Explore This Program

About Us

Welcome to Massachusetts General Hospital’s Rural Medicine Program.

Our mission is to address health injustice by promoting the equitable distribution of teaching hospital resources in solidarity with rural community partners.

Since 2016, our team has been working in partnership with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, or, in the Lakota language, the Sicangu Oyate. We are deeply grateful to the Oyate to have been given the opportunity to do this work. Our first goal is to be good partners to the community.

Our Vision

A just and equitable health care system.

Our Mission

The program’s mission is to address health injustice by promoting the equitable distribution of teaching hospital resources in solidarity with rural community partners.

Our Program’s History

In 2012, after the release of a U.S. Senate report detailing management issues in the regional health system, the Indian Health Service (IHS) approached Mass General’s training programs. Mass General team members met with the health leadership of the Sicangu Oyate, who reside on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in Todd County, South Dakota. The health leadership stated that sending physicians to the IHS would be the top priority for partnership.

Todd County, the site of the IHS’s Rosebud Service Unit, is one of the counties with the lowest median income in the United States. Age-adjusted mortality rates are among the highest in the nation. Todd County's remote location compounds its challenges.

On September 1, 2016, doctors from Mass General began working full time at the Rosebud IHS. Since then, Mass General has continued working with the Sicangu Oyate and the IHS to bring excellent health care and good health to the community. Today, the Mass General team has grown to include core faculty, fellows, rotating residents and two year-long volunteers based on Rosebud.

Mass General works to maintain three providers, staffing the Rosebud Indian Health Service Unit each week. Participants include fellows, faculty and outside physician partners. Mass General regularly facilitates resident physician and medical school rotations with the IHS, with a goal of developing the local health workforce.

Our Team

Meet the team of the Rural Medicine Program.

Meet the team

Fellowship in Rural Health Leadership

The Mass General Fellowship Program in Rural Health Leadership empowers early-career physicians to become leaders in partnering with challenged communities to improve health systems.

Learn more about the fellowship

Awards and Honors

  • MGB Pillars of Excellence: Integrating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (2023)
  • National Rural Health Association, Outstanding Rural Health Program (2021)
  • Disparities Solutions Center, Disparities Leadership Program Award in recognition of excellence in addressing racial and ethnic disparities in health care (2020-2021)
  • Presidential proclamation declaring Aug. 24, 2019 as Boston Doctor’s Day, with honoring at the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Wacipi

Resources in Rural Health

Learn more about topics in rural health.

Publications

Our team’s published works:

2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2014

Questions?

Contact us at ruralmedicine@mgh.harvard.edu or 617-643-5189, or reach out to the Program Director Matthew Tobey at matthew.tobey@mgh.harvard.edu.

Videos