The Appalachian Adventure

In October, a group of nursing, pharmacy, physician assistant and medical students from schools across the state went on an "Appalachian Adventure," a yearly event designed to focus aspiring health care professionals attention on rural Appalachia. 

The program, administered the WV Rural Health Education Partnership, helps students learn more about our state, its culture, its history and its people.

This years program focused on mountaintop removal and its relationship to the health of the state and its citizens. Participants met with OVEC members, staff and residents whose lives and health have been affected by mountaintop removal. They capped off their day with a visit to Kayford Mountain.

After the experience, one student wrote, "Mountaintop removal is taking the wild and wonderful out of West Virginia and replacing it with worthlessness and waste."

Here, as students look out over Kayford Mountain, Larry Gibson speaks with Dr. Carroll Christiansen of Roane County, while Chuck Conner, a site coordinator for WVRHEP, snaps a shot.