The farm tour was part of a week-long program designed to introduce future doctors, pharmacists and nurses to rural life.  The goal: Get the students interested in working in rural areas.

Jessica Sheridan’s plan was to have her first daughter at the local hospital, five minutes from her house in Iowa Falls. But when she was seven months pregnant, that plan suddenly changed.

Nine months ago, things were looking bleak for Hillsboro Community Hospital, a 15-bed facility in central Kansas about 50 miles north of Wichita. 

Nationwide, e-cigarette use rose an alarming 78 percent among high school students last year, the FDA says. The agency taken steps to address what it calls an epidemic. For example, it has warned manufacturers to stop marketing to kids by using fruity flavors and colorful packages. But e-cigarettes are still a big problem in schools — even those in rural communities.

Rural America has high rates of chronic disease – the more remote a community, the more heart disease, cancer and diabetes. And there are side effects many people don’t think about: depression, anxiety, even suicide.