Alva Review-Courier -

Philip Ridgway, having completed his first year at Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, has returned to the Woods County area for a Summer Rural Externship program with Dr. Timothy Newton, D.O., at the Great Salt Plains Health Center in Cherokee.

Eager to return to the area as a doctor upon graduation, Ridgway is using the opportunity provided by OSU to get some early experience in the type of medicine practiced in the area.

"For me, working in the medical field here is all about being resourceful and quick on your feet," Ridgway remarked. "The challenge to use what's available and know when you really need to send someone on to Enid or Oklahoma City for more advanced care – that's what I find really exciting about rural medicine."

Ridgway will be beginning his second year at OSU-COM in August, returning as a stress-management leader. He will help the incoming first year medical students adjust to the rigorous demands of medical school life.

"Sure, you have to work long hours, and it can be downright brutal from time to time. But through the struggle, you learn to trust your friends and classmates, deepening your relationships with those down in the academic trenches with you. And, coming up on the other side, you find strengths and abilities that you would never discover otherwise."