Diabetes is a major health problem across the nation – but Mount Marty University in Yankton wants to make more care opportunities in every setting.
There are now two graduate-level endocrinology programs in the United States – and the second can be now found at Mount Marty.
MMU president Marc Long said interest in the field was sparked by very human concerns.
“We actually had a staff member here at Mount Marty University, about 18 months ago, who was diabetic and sought a referral to an endocrinologist to help manager her A1C levels," Long said. "It looked like it would be many months before she could see an endocrinologist.”
Long said that person’s experience started conversations about access.
"About the shortage of endocrinologists, especially in rural parts of our state," Long said. "They really only exist in South Dakota in Rapid City and Sioux Falls. So, I then went and had a conversation with our nurse practitioner faculty about whether there were opportunities for us to focus in this area and really work on developing providers that are working in rural areas.”
He said diabetes needs to be taken seriously no matter where you find yourself.
“Thirty-seven-million people in the United States have diabetes, and 20% of those people don’t know they have the disease," Long said. "In the process of working this initiative, we discovered there’s some new research that found a higher mortality rate in rural counties of the United States compared to urban or suburban counties.”
Mount Marty expects to draw nurse practitioners nationwide for the program. There will also be opportunities for clinical rotations with physicians and nurses at the Endocrinology and Diabetes Clinic at Avera in Sioux Falls.