TCHC physician student performs at Carnegie Hall
Physician student Rachel Busko, who has been at Tri-County Health Care since October as part of the University of Minnesota’s Rural Physician Associate Program (RPAP), performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City on Sunday, April 8. She sang as part of a choir under the direction of Eric Whitacre, Grammy-winning composer and conductor.
Busko has been singing for as long as she remembers. Her parents, both of whom are musically inclined, encouraged Busko and her brother to pursue music. She went on to double major in biology and vocal performance in college. She discovered the call for singers on Whitacre’s website last year and sent in an audition recording on a whim. The rest is history.
“It felt surreal because not only were we performing such beautiful, intricate music on one of the most phenomenal stages in the world, but we were also singing as a choir of strangers who in a few short days had become friends,” she said. “It seemed so unique and special, an opportunity that many of us would never have again.”
RPAP is a nine-month educational experience for third-year medical students at the University of Minnesota. The program gives them hands-on experience caring for patients of all ages in rural communities. Following RPAP, Busko has one year left of clinical rotations and will apply for residency before she receives her M.D.
“This rural experience in medicine has allowed me to improve in the technical aspects of medicine and has increased my confidence and comfort in many areas,” she said. “The providers and staff at TCHC have also modeled compassion, patience and kindness, which I believe are skills that are much more difficult to develop and teach to others. I know that my ability to converse and connect with patients has improved by following their example.”
Busko and a friend are planning a concert in Wadena for mid-June.
ABOUT TRI-COUNTY HEALTH CARE
Tri-County Health Care is a private, not-for-profit health care system located in Wadena, Minnesota. It offers care services such as minimally invasive surgery, cancer care, diagnostic imaging, obstetrics and rehabilitation. Tri-County operates a 25-bed hospital and medical clinic in Wadena, as well as six satellite clinics and three physical therapy clinics across Todd, Wadena and Otter Tail counties. Satellite clinic locations include Henning, Bertha, Ottertail, Sebeka, Verndale and Baxter. Visit TCHC.org.