Today we’re having a conversation with Andrea Wendling, M.D., Professor of Family Medicine and Director of Rural Medicine Curriculum at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.
“Today’s medical students often say, “I want to care for a community. Teach me how to do that.” I think that’s really exciting.”
Dr. Wendling completed medical school at the University of Michigan and residency training at Michigan State University’s Grand Rapids Family Medicine Residency Program. After residency, she was an Assistant Director for the residency until 2003, when she moved to Northern Michigan to practice rural medicine.
Dr. Wendling is Director of the Rural Community Health Program, a rural training program for MSU-CHM medical students, and the Rural Premedical Internship Program, a pipeline program for undergraduate students interested in rural medicine.
She has received many teaching awards including MSU-CHM’s Arnold P. Gold Humanism Award, Outstanding Community Volunteer Faculty Award, and most recently, the Rural Professional of the Year Award from the Michigan Center for Rural Health.
Dr. Wendling has served on the editorial board for the Family Medicine journal since 2004, including Editor of the Dedicated Issue on Rural Health (2010), and Assistant Editor for the journal since 2013. She is also a founding Associate Editor of Peer-Reviewed Reports in Medical Education and Research (PRIMER). She participates on rural workforce research groups for the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) and Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and has presented and published in the areas of medical education and the rural health workforce.
Dr. Wendling lives in rural Northern Michigan, with her husband and four wonderful kids. When her family is not having adventures traveling the world they can be found playing bluegrass music, camping, or skiing and snowmobiling around Northern Michigan.