Table of Contents

Article Image
Byline
By Medicine Iowa Editorial Staff : Spring 2026
Title

Rooted in rural Iowa, building a future in women’s health

Subtitle

Ashley Hurd-Jackson’s first deliveries were pigs on the family farm. Now she is training to deliver babies — and better access to care — across rural Iowa.

Sections

For Ashley Hurd-Jackson (25MD), the values that guide her as a physician began long before medical school. It started on her family’s farm in the northwest Iowa town of Cleghorn. 

“I got the opportunity to help my dad deliver baby pigs, starting when I was 11 years old,” she says. “That’s where my interest in obstetrics originally started, on the farm.” 

A family nurse practitioner Hurd-Jackson saw as a child also made a lasting impression, and they developed a great connection. She says the provider was invested in her entire family, which helped her feel welcome and comfortable. 

Those experiences led Hurd-Jackson to the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine where she took part in the Carver Rural Iowa Scholars Program (CRISP), an initiative to prepare medical students for careers in rural health care. After earning her MD in May 2025, she began her obstetrics and gynecology residency at UI Health Care, where she is now in her first year of training. 

I realized I could channel my love for medicine into serving others as a physician.”
Ashley Hurd-Jackson

Finding her calling

The sense of connection Hurd-Jackson felt with her nurse practitioner and in her community is what ultimately drew her to medicine. 

 “I realized I could channel my love for medicine into serving others as a physician,” she says. 

When she discovered obstetrics and gynecology, everything clicked. 

“Iowa ranks last in all 50 states for OBGYN per capita, and about a third of Iowa’s counties are considered to be maternity care deserts,” Hurd-Jackson says. “That was something that really stuck with me and made me think about how some patients in our state don’t have access to the care that they need, whether that be reproductive care or maternity care throughout their pregnancy.” 

The role of CRISP

Hurd-Jackson joined CRISP to turn her passion for rural health into practice. 

“Throughout that program, I was able to connect with a rural OBGYN in eastern Iowa,” she says. “I even got to travel with her to other small areas, as well.” 

CRISP combines mentoring, community-based rotations, and loan-repayment incentives of up to $100,000 for graduates who return to practice in qualifying Iowa communities for five years. The financial support helps make rural practice a real option for aspiring physicians.

Ashley Hurd-Jackson portrait

Connecting medical students with mentors from rural Iowa

For her CRISP capstone project, Hurd-Jackson collaborated with three classmates to create a statewide database of rural providers willing to serve as mentors for medical students. 

The earlier you establish a mentorship and a relationship, the more you open your eyes to the possibility of working in a rural area.”
Ashley Hurd-Jackson

The goal was to make it easier for students, especially those without rural backgrounds, to find mentors and see the full spectrum of rural medicine. Hurd-Jackson and her colleagues listed each prospective mentor’s profession and contact information so students could reach out and establish a connection in those communities.

“The earlier you establish a mentorship and a relationship, the more you open your eyes to the possibility of working in a rural area,” she says.

Another component of Hurd-Jackson’s capstone project focused on maternal health education.

“I noticed in even my small community that there were multiple women who were diagnosed with preeclampsia and were not aware of what the signs and symptoms were,” she says. “That made me realize that there may be an education gap.” 

With support from faculty mentors, Hurd-Jackson developed a preeclampsia awareness project that partnered with two hospitals in northwest Iowa to distribute informational magnets to patients during prenatal visits. Patients who received a magnet were better able to identify the signs, symptoms, risk factors, and complications of preeclampsia — and demonstrated greater knowledge of what to do if they developed symptoms — compared to those who did not receive a magnet. 

One woman who received the magnet later shared that when she experienced a symptom listed on the magnet, she felt comfortable reaching out to her doctor. The woman was later diagnosed with preeclampsia and delivered her son at 36 weeks’ gestation. Mom and baby are now doing well.

Looking ahead

When Hurd-Jackson pictures her future, she envisions herself right back where she started, serving a rural Iowa community. 

“After residency, I see myself in a small community in Iowa, hopefully similar to the one that I grew up in,” she says. “I deeply value building connections with my future patients and developing genuine relationships where I get to know them as a person, not just as a patient in my office.” 

A real-world experience early in her residency training confirmed that she had found her place. 

“The very first delivery I was part of was with a family medicine doctor,” she says. “He allowed me to perform the entire delivery, and it was an incredible experience — the first of many meaningful moments in my training. Being trusted to participate in such an intimate, life-changing moment is both a profound privilege and reminder of why I chose OBGYN.