136th Annual Shattuck Lecture - All Health is Local: Healing Health Care in Rural America

136th Annual Shattuck Lecture - All Health is Local: Healing Health Care in Rural America

Rural communities across the United States face growing challenges that threaten the health and well-being of their populations, including hospital closures, workforce shortages, limited access to specialty care, and economic instability. This lecture, recorded May 16, 2026, examines the structural, financial, and policy factors driving disparities in rural health outcomes and explore innovative approaches to strengthening rural health systems. Participants will learn how community-centered learning health systems, data-driven decision-making, care coordination, and value-based care models can improve quality, equity, and sustainability in rural health care delivery. The session also highlights evidence-based strategies to address rural health challenges, including telehealth expansion, workforce development initiatives, behavioral health integration, and rural-urban partnerships that support healthier communities and more resilient health systems.

Faculty
Moderator
Eric J. Rubin, MD, PhD
Editor-In-Chief, The New England Journal of Medicine, NEJM Group

Shattuck Lecturer
Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO
Richard E. Wilson Professor of Surgery Emerita, Harvard Medical School

Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, is a surgical oncologist and cancer researcher currently serving as a Senior Fellow in Healthcare Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. From November 2023- January 2025 she was the 17th director of the National Institutes of Health. Prior to this, she was the director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Richard E. Wilson Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, and Chief of Surgical Oncology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Throughout her career, Dr. Bertagnolli has been at the forefront of the field of translational oncology. Over the past decade, she has championed collaborative initiatives to enable a learning healthcare system by transforming the data infrastructure for clinical research. She is a past president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and served on the board of directors of the American Cancer Society and the Prevent Cancer Foundation. Dr. Bertagnolli was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2021 and in 2025 she was chosen to be the Academy’s 11th President, a position she will assume in July, 2026. Dr. Bertagnolli graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree and attended medical school at the University of Utah. She trained in surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital and was a research fellow in tumor immunology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Intended Audience
This activity is designed for physicians, physicians-in-training, other health care leaders and professionals and students.

Course Objectives
Upon completion of this activity, learners should be able to:

• Analyze the major structural, economic, and workforce factors contributing to worsening health outcomes and health care access disparities in rural America, including rural hospital closures, workforce shortages, and insurance instability.
• Evaluate the principles of community-centered learning health systems and discuss how data integration, care coordination, and value-based models can improve quality, equity, and sustainability of rural health care delivery.
• Identify evidence-based strategies and policy approaches to strengthen rural health systems, including telehealth expansion, workforce development, behavioral health integration, and innovative rural-urban partnerships to improve population health outcomes.

Accreditation & Credit Information
Accreditation Statement  
The Massachusetts Medical Society is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

AMA Credit Designation Statement 
The Massachusetts Medical Society designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

National Commission on Certification of Physicians Assistant (NCCPA)
Physician Assistants may claim a maximum of 1.00 Category 1 credit for completing this activity. NCCPA accepts AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by ACCME or a recognized state medical society.

Course Fees:
Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) Physician Member: $40.00
MMS Resident/Student Member: FREE
Non-Member Physician: $90.00
Non-Members Resident/Student: $20.00
Allied Health Professional/Other: $32.00

Activity Term:
Original Release Date: June 17, 2026
Review Date(s): N/A 
Termination Date: June 17, 2029

Exam/Assessment: A score of 70% or higher is required to receive AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™.  

Format and Estimated Time to Complete: Video recording / 1 hour

System Requirements
Desktops/Laptops
Windows 10
Mac OSX 10.6 higher

Most modern browsers including
IE 11+
Firefox 18.0+
Chrome latest version
Safari 12+

Mobile/Tablet
iOS devices beginning with OS version 10 or higher (includes, iPhone, iPad and iTouch devices)

Policies
Copyright Policy
Privacy Policy

Contact Us
Contact us at nejmcust@mms.org  or (800) 843-6356. Massachusetts Medical Society, 860 Winter Street, Waltham, MA 02451.