Three second-year medical students will bicycle a thousand miles around Oregon to help raise awareness of the health care challenges facing rural Oregon.

Matthew Sperry, Wes Fuhrum and Nathan Defrees will team with community physicians and leaders to discuss possible solutions to the primary care workforce shortage and the importance of health care on the economic development of rural communities.

The students will leave Oregon Health & Science University on Tuesday, July 5, biking first to the coast and working their way toward Reedsport, then continuing on to Prineville and, finally, Enterprise. Friends, family and supporters will give the team a proper send-off at 9 a.m. near the fountain in front of the OHSU School of Medicine.

Physicians hosting the students along the way are: Robbie Law, MD, Reedsport; Mike Hodulik, MD, Florence; Bob Holland, MD, John Day; John Schott, MD, Baker City; and Liz Powers, MD, Enterprise.

• The entire OHSU media release is available online