Rural Physician Leadership Program Students Receive Awards

UK St. Claire (SCH) is proud to serve as a regional hub for healthcare education for the University of Kentucky’s Rural Physician Leadership Program (RPLP). During the program’s recent graduate ceremony, Adam Caskey and Shelley Stiltner received special recognition from UK St. Claire.

Caskey, a resident of Tollesboro, Kentucky, won the 2023 St. Caire HealthCare Excellence in Rural Medicine Award. This award is presented to a graduating student who lives the mission of RPLP by providing high-quality healthcare to patients as well as demonstrating knowledge about community health projects and research and is respected as a leader by faculty and peers. He has excelled in clinical rotations and works to advocate for physicians in rural Eastern Kentucky. He has worked hard to ensure his patients have received the best care and truly is the epitome of a rural physician. Caskey will be completing his residency at the University of Kentucky in Internal Medicine with hopes of completing a fellowship in nephrology.

Stiltner, a resident of Elkhorn City, Kentucky, was presented with the 2023 UK St. Claire Sunflower Award. This award is given to a graduating student who exemplifies the philosophy of SCH by responding to the needs of the whole person – physical, spiritual, and psychosocial – according to professional standards and justice. She lives the mission of UK St. Claire by providing a healing ministry to the people of Eastern Kentucky through the hearts and hands of those who serve here. She serves with a compassionate heart and provides positivity and kindness to patients in their times of need. Stiltner will be continuing her training in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The RPLP was developed jointly with the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, UK St. Claire, and Morehead State University. The program allows students to complete their first two years of basic science education at UK’s main campus in Lexington, then complete their third and fourth years of clinical experiences at UK St. Claire and other sites in rural, northeastern Kentucky.

Photo caption: Sr. Judine Lambert, SND, VP of Mission Integration, presents Adam Caskey and Shelley Stiltner with special recognition from UK St. Claire.