Urban/Rural Med @ UIC

[MedHrdMedOftn]

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Does anyone have insight on UIC's Urban or Rural med programs? And if so, can someone tell me if

1) you must have "lived" in a underserved region of Illinois to be accepted

2) and is it "easier" to get into one of these programs rather than the normal UIC medical school

3) Lastly, can you apply to both Rural and Urban programs? Or will admissions blow you off because they think you're just trying to get it?

Just a few Q's. Thanks everyone

 

[IlliniEMT]

I can answer some questions about the Rural Med program (RMED) for you.

1. You do not have to be from a rural area to be accepted into the rural program. (My entering class has a couple from bigger cities/suburbs) However, if you are not from a rural area you need to have connections to a rural area and experience with rural docs and a rural lifestyle. The application for RMED asks many questions about your background and future goals so if you don't have any interest in rural med and no experience with a rural lifestyle you cannot really fake it on the application.

2. In terms of "easier" to get in, I think the RMED admissions stats may be slightly lower than average but it is not any easier to get in than UIC in general. You fill out an additional rural med application including another 3 letters of recommendation and submit that. RMED holds interviews in Rockford in January and it is a 15-20 person panel interview that will ask many pointed questions about your background, future plans/goals, what you think a rural doc is, etc. After the RMED class is selected, all students must get final approval from the UIC admissions committee as well so if your stats aren't good enough they will end up rejecting you anyway. (Though see my stats below, I was accepted with a low GPA)

3. I'm not really sure about this one, but as RMED and UMED are completely separate application processes and interviews so I would guess you could easily apply to both.


My one piece of advice is not to try and use this as a backdoor into UIC if you are not truly interested in Rural Med. The recruitment and retention committee for RMED can see through you in your application and/or interview. If you don't want to be a rural doc you won't be very happy in the program at all. If you are really interested in rural medicine, take steps now to show that is where your passions lie. RMED is a great program with a supplemental rural curriculum and tons of opportunities to interact with people in rural healthcare. Also, Rural areas need more general practitioners so that is also a consideration. You won't find a job as a neurosurgeon in a rural area so consider your future specialty preferences as well before applying.



I would be very happy to field any other questions you may have about RMED (I unfortunately don't know much about UMED) and assist you in the application process if you decide to apply! Though I haven't started school yet, I have 2 very good friends in the program as well that I can bother with questions if its something I cannot answer. Good luck with this application cycle and I hope you get accepted in a program that is a good fit for your future goals! 🙂




Background on me: RMED class of 2015, Graduated from UIUC 2011 with a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology, stats/experience: http://www.mdapplicants.com/profile.php?id=21441
---I received both an RMED interview invite and an regular UIC interview invitation but only attended the RMED interview due to it being before the regular UIC interview.

 

[MedHrdMedOftn]

Thank you for your feedback!!!

Rereading my original post I noticed it sounded as if I was trying to use Rural Med as a back door - this isn't my intention at all.

Now that I've straightened that out! lol, I am very excited to apply to Rural Med. I grew up in a suburb of Chicago and received a lot of patient interaction at family practices with rural individuals. I believe that rural and urban health care can go somewhat hand-in-hand.

Do you know if I need a "rural doctor" letter of rec for application purposes? And also, is the UI Rural Med only through Rockford?

Thanks A TON!!!!!!!!!

 

[IlliniEMT]

Rural and Urban health do go somewhat hand in hand as they both deal with underserved populations and a wide diversity of people 🙂

You will apply to UIC regularly and have the 3 academic letters through that application. The additional RMED application asks for 3 letters from community members supporting your decision to go into rural medicine so no need for a rural doc letter specifically...though it probably wouldn't hurt at all. (I'm from a town of less than 1000 so I had my mayor, high school principal, and fire chief write me letters)

The RMED path is only through Rockford. You do M1 in Champaign then M2-4 in Rockford. However, in M4 you have the opportunity to do away rotations and you could get rotations at more urban hospitals if you wished.

Another option you might consider is UIC track that takes you to Peoria. (M1 year in Champaign, M2-4 in Peoria) Peoria is not Chicago, but it is definitely a heavily populated city with plenty of Urban med experiences. However, because of Peoria's location, there are tons of Rural med opportunities there as well. They actually have a rural immersion program you can do there called RSPP. http://peoria.medicine.uic.edu/depa...al_education/rural_student_physician_program/


For the RMED program, Mark Meurer is the guy you want to contact with specific questions about the application and what you might want/need to have extra since you are from a suburb. His email is [email protected] and phone 815-395-5782. He is a super friendly guy and will help you out however he can.

 

[TickTock719]

A little delayed, but some info about UMed.

1) No, you don't have to have lived in an urban area, but we do look for experience that shows you have worked with diverse populations and interest in working with underserved urban communities. This is definitely a place where the quality of your involvement matters over quantity.

2) UMed is actually harder to get into than just the COM. We don't interview you until after you're accepted, and we reject a fair number of applicants every year.

Not knowing a ton about the rural medicine program, I think the common ground between the programs is that they emphasize working beyond/outside the exam room, especially to gain awareness of your patient's communities and how socioeconomic/geographic/non-medical factors affect your patients' health. Keep in mind that these programs are significant commitments beyond the normal curriculum. You're not going to receive a lot of accolades or honors compared to the amount work you're putting in, so please apply because you're really interested 🙂

 

[n3xa]

Not knowing a ton about the rural medicine program, I think the common ground between the programs is that they emphasize working beyond/outside the exam room, especially to gain awareness of your patient's communities and how socioeconomic/geographic/non-medical factors affect your patients' health. Keep in mind that these programs are significant commitments beyond the normal curriculum. You're not going to receive a lot of accolades or honors compared to the amount work you're putting in, so please apply because you're really interested 🙂

👍

I feel like this needs to be bolded and emphasized for truth, although it should ideally be extended to wherever you end up working. 🙂

 

[DVolle]

For the RMED program, are you locked into a primary care specialty if you are accepted?

 

[IlliniEMT]

For the RMED program, are you locked into a primary care specialty if you are accepted?

I wouldn't say you are locked into a primary care specialty but the program is very geared towards training primary care physicians ( Family Med/Peds/Internal Med/Gen Surg... etc) since that is what rural areas need the most. You are required to sign a pledge stating you will go into a primary care specialty, however, it specifically states in the pledge that "Fulfillment of this pledge is a matter of honor; there will be no monetary penalty for not fulfilling this pledge."


So if you are on rotations and decide that you really really want to be an orthopedist, you can without penalty.

 

[DVolle]

Ah, that's what I was unsure of if being accepted there would lock you into a specialty. I do want to practice rural medicine and am thinking about applying for the RIMSAP loan (I want to practice in Carbondale, Marion or Harrisburg), but I have been interested in EM for some time now and want to practice it rurally. Thank you for your feedback.

 

[IlliniEMT]

Awesome 🙂 Let me know if you have any questions!

I went strictly RMED, I didn't apply through RIMSAP but my class is around 6 who applied through RIMSAP and 12 through RMED. We are all considered the RMED class, just the interview process is different and RIMSAP offers loans.

Make sure you read up on RIMSAP though because if you use them to get the recommendation for admittance into the program (and subsequently into UIC med school) I believe they have restrictions on what specialties you can enter into as well as what places you can work until you fulfill a commitment time (Either 4 or 5 years)


I applied just through RMED because I didn't want to deal with restrictions and time commitments for loan money.

 

[DVolle]

Is this a program without very many applications? I sent off my application today, now just waiting for hometown LoRs. How many usually apply to RMED?