Sarah Scott’s path to medical school began as she watched her family struggle to get medical care for her little sister’s heart condition.

“I thought, at the time and to this day, that it’s incredible my family would need to travel two-and-a-half hours to receive medical care,” said Scott, whose family lived in Orono, near Bangor.

The experience also got her thinking about other families who lived in more rural areas of the state and what it was like for them to access medical care.

Now in her third year of medical school, Scott, who graduated from Bowdoin College, plans to practice in rural Maine. She and fellow Maine Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine student Lisetta Shah, will work with Lincoln County Healthcare physicians in Damariscotta and Boothbay Harbor beginning in June as part of Maine Track, an innovative program designed to address a critical shortage of physicians in rural Maine.

The Maine Track program brings third-year medical school students who are interested in practicing rural medicine to rural communities where they can develop the relationships that often lead them to return after they have completed their training.

Maine is a federally-designated shortage area with more than 3,500 people per doctor in the state. The shortage is expected to get worse with time unless programs like Maine Track are successful. This is the second year Lincoln County Healthcare has participated in the program.

Shah, who graduated from Williams College with a degree in biology and math, taught science and math in the Mississippi Delta after graduation from college because she wanted to work with an underserved population.

She enjoyed working in a rural area where she had the opportunity to get to know her students and their families outside of school hours.

After she completes her residency, Shah sees herself practicing in a rural area, likely somewhere in Maine, where she can enjoy outdoor activities like running, hiking, snowshoeing and kayaking.

Scott and Shah will work with Lincoln Medical Partners physicians in the specialties of internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology and family medicine as well as with Dr. Michael Clark of Lifespan Family Medicine. The students will also follow a group of patients while working under the supervision of the preceptors.

Preceptors include Dr. Steven Feder, a pediatrician who practices mostly in Boothbay Harbor, Dr. Tim Goltz, a family medicine provider who practices in Damariscotta, and Dr. Lawrence Fischman, who practices psychiatry in Brunswick.

Heather Wolfe, MD, Medical Student Coordinator, said the emphasis on continuity allows students to focus on each patient as a “whole” person. Traditional medical school curricula focus on specialties as separate units.

By following patients during all aspects of their care, the students not only see how the different parts of the medical community work together, but they also get a better understanding of patients’ experience.

“The students live, work and learn here,” said Wolfe. “We are teaching the importance of patient-focused care and what better place to teach that than in a community.”

The program begins in June and extends through February. While the students follow patients under the supervision of a mentor physician, patients can choose not to take part in the program and the students will not be involved in their care if they choose not to participate.

For further information about the Maine Medical Center – Tufts University School of Medicine, www.mmc.org/mmc_milestone.cfm?id=7218/.