Alva native Courtney Mapes recently returned home to participate in a summer rural externship where she spent time shadowing Dr. Timothy Newton, DO, through the Great Salt Plains Health Center in Cherokee, Oklahoma.

Mapes currently is a second-year medical student at OSU's College of Osteopathic Medicine where she is a member of the rural medical track. This program offers a variety of unique opportunities to students hoping to pursue rural medicine in leadership, experience and research.

Specifically, as a part of this program, students have the opportunity to participate in a two-week clinic...