Background Southern Illinois University School of Medicine’s (SIUSOM) mission is to assist the people of central and southern Illinois in meeting their health care needs through education, patient care, research, and service to the community. The last priority is relatively new addition to the School of Medicine. Service to the community expands the medical school’s goals beyond the traditional confines of the clinics and medicals schools and requires our physicians, medical students, and researchers to improve health by understanding the populations we serve. SIUSOM serves 66 counties in