In this episode, Dr. Ryan Jackman gives us an overview of addiction in Rural America. He compares the rates of substance use and overdose deaths between urban and rural areas and reviews what factors might contribute to the development of use disorders in rural communities. Dr. Jackman also discusses the unique challenges rural areas face in obtaining treatment and how we can draw upon the strength and resiliency of their people to overcome some of these barriers. Dr. Ryan Jackman is a board-certified family medicine and addiction medicine physician who practices in Grand Junction, Colorado. He is the medical director of St. Mary’s Integrated Addiction Medicine clinic and the project director for a HRSA funded Rural Communities Opioid Response Program serving Western Colorado. He has special interests in graduate medical education and increasing access to medical care in rural locations has received training awards from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in 2016 and the Colorado Health Foundation and Denver Foundation in 2017 to implement tele-addiction medicine in Western Colorado. Take a look at some of resources Dr. Jackman referenced: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db403-H.pdf https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6817a3.htm https://opioidmisusetool.norc.org/ https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=ruhrc_reports https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=ruhrc_reports https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/colorado/2021/measure/factors/134/data Learn more about Dr. Jackman at https://doctors.sclhealth.org/provider/Ryan+K.+Jackman/1617603