How is the war in Iraq effecting us on the homefront? Today's producers hit the "Blue Highways" across America to find out.

In small towns across America, there is a shortage of doctors. Many rural doctors are in Iraq or Afghanistan. Others have relocated to the city. The Centers for Disease Control recently reported that people in rural areas are unhealthier than people in urban or suburban areas. Lack of access to medical care is a big part of the problem. Blue Highways travels to a small town in North Dakota and a big city medical school in Philadelphia.

Later we'll listen in on one national guardsmen as he travels home to upstate New York for a little R+R.

In New Mexico, we track the movement of young artists from the concrete canyons of the city to taking it easy in Taos.

This week's Sprouts edition is produced by Eric Mack and Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock of Blue Highway Productions.