Which schools are considered to focus on rural medicine?

[WendsJ]

I'm interested in urban medicine, but am not quite sure which schools have a particular focus. For example, I was not aware that Dartmouth practiced rural medicine.

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[Wrigleyville]

FSU i believe focuses on rural medicine.

Wrigley

 

[Cydney Foote]

The WWAMI (Washington/Wyoming/Alaska/Montana/Idaho) system has a good rural medicine program, but I think it's hard to get in if you're not a resident of those states. Not sure if you'd call it a "focus" (Washington's good at pretty much everything) but it's a prominent program.

 

[Firebird]

Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. I'm starting my senior undergrad year there, and that is where I plan to go for med school, too. But anyway, I think (not absolutely sure) you are required to spend 20 weeks in rural practice during clerkships. And in WV, you'll not have trouble finding a rural place to practice!

Also, Marshall started the first wilderness medicine group in the country. Every month they get together and do a discussion on a certain type of wilderness medicine (cave rescue, tropical forest stuff, etc.). Plus I believe they offer some kind of subspecialization in wilderness medicine.

But if you didn't go there for undergrad, and don't live in a boardering state, you can forget getting in if you're applying out of state. They only offer 3 seats out of state. I heard of a guy who completed two majors in four years (bio and chem), did tons of research, had a 3.9 GPA, and completed two undergraduate theses and was rejected. My guess, though, is not that they're so selective that he wasn't good enough. I would say he was a bookworm and didn't leave the chem lab for all four years.

 

[Neuronix]

Without promoting any specific program, I'll try to give you a general answer.

Most state schools are primary care oriented, since they are often given funding from the government to produce primary care physicians. You can check out the USNews primary care rankings http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/med/brief/mdprank_brief.php, which means nothing except to point out that most of the schools on there are state schools.

Some schools are a little more zealous about it than others--teaching towards primary care and forcing long rural medicine rotations (UMaryland for example does this). Regardless, if you want to do primary care, you can match into that residency from anywhere, as those residencies are generally the least competitive. I would also say that almost any school will have oppertunity for exposure to things that primary care students are looking for (e.g. international exposure, med student run clinics). Though, when applying I would look for those kinds of things.

Good luck!

 

[Medical123]

I think that East Tennessee does.

 

[jankanator]

ECU (East Carolina) definitely promotes primary care and rural medicine.

Again, out-of-staters are out of luck.

 

[ForceField]

UIC has a separate Rural Medicine program focused on the Rockford campus. I think it's limited to state residents though. You may want to check into it.

 

[lady bug]

Originally posted by Wrigleyville
FSU i believe focuses on rural medicine.
Wrigley

Yup, I second that.

 

[Adcadet]

University of Minnesota-Duluth does, but it's hard to get into as an out-of-stater I believe. You do your first two years in Duluth MN and your last two in the Twin Cities. I know many students at UMD do their MPH in Minneapolis as well.

 

[meanderson]

Mercer is heavily committed to rural primary care, but out of staters are again out of luck.

 

[tBw]

Not that any of us ever care about USNews but...

Medical Specialties: Rural Medicine
(New! Ranked in 2003*)

1. University of Washington
2. University of New Mexico
3. East Tennessee State Univ. (J.H. Quillen)


U Missouri Columbia is also very proud of its Rural Medicine program which usually gets ranked. Also, as anathema as it may be to some people in this particular forum, some of the DO schools whole school mission and location is designed for preparing people for rural medicine.....

 

[uclamendoza]

Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (CHM) has a rural medicine program, I believe.

 

[BobbyDylanFan]

The State University of New York at Syracuse ( SUNY Upstate) has a great rural medical education program. You spend your first two years in Syracuse for the basic sciences and then you spend your last two years in Binghamton (SUNY Binghamton) doing rural medicine. SUNY Upstate is starting to accept more out of state students.

BDF

 

[phar]

upstate and unmc

 

[mikegoal]

Originally posted by BobbyDylanFan
The State University of New York at Syracuse ( SUNY Upstate) has a great rural medical education program. You spend your first two years in Syracuse for the basic sciences and then you spend your last two years in Binghamton (SUNY Binghamton) doing rural medicine. SUNY Upstate is starting to accept more out of state students.

BDF

The Rural medicine program at upstate is not the binghamton program. You can do the program if you are in syracuse for the last 2 years also. You do your required clerkships and your elective time is spent in a rural area.

http://www.upstate.edu/fmed/rmed/

 

[TroutBum]

University of Colorado has a strong emphasis on producing primary care docs who will work in urban or rural areas. In fact, one of their secondary app questions addressed this. But once again, it's pretty tough to get in as as out-of-stater.

 

[sunflower79]

if a list-crazy SDNer decides to make a list of this thread, add UVM. They have a scholarship for ppl wanting to do rural med in Vermont.

 

[southerndoc]

Originally posted by meanderson
Mercer is heavily committed to rural primary care, but out of staters are again out of luck.

Heh, an understatement... they cram it down your throat.

 

[meanderson]

>>Heh, an understatement... they cram it down your throat.

Well, that is sort of the basis for their existence. When they were chartered just 20-30 years ago(?), this was the reason.

I'm just curious here, but i recall you mentioning earlier that mercer was your first choice and you applied EA. You had to have known that they were going to "cram it down". Why apply EA to mercer and not MCG for example? Again, just curious

 

[FMLizard]

Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is very rural focused, but heavy on the in-state requirement, or at least one of the Dakotas.

South Dakota and North Dakota are very rural focused.

MSU, both MD and DO have strong rural focuses, to help augment the blatant snobbery of UMich and actually train docs for Michigan and not California. MSU gives additional in-state preference to rural Upper Peninsula residents (are there any other kind?) like me for their rural program.

Pretty much any state school from a state with low population density or large rural areas will have a rural focus somewhat. They can be the ultimate fortress to out-of-state city kids from across the country though, because they are specifically charged with finding people who will stay to practice.

 

[hossofadoc]

The MD schools that I know about are Marshall and ETSU.

A good percentage of DO schools this is the mission of the school: Pikeville, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, New England, MSU.

 

[southerndoc]

Originally posted by meanderson
I'm just curious here, but i recall you mentioning earlier that mercer was your first choice and you applied EA. You had to have known that they were going to "cram it down". Why apply EA to mercer and not MCG for example? Again, just curious

I was basically joking dude. Mercer does mention its commitment to rural medicine, but they don't really cram it down your throat. In fact, most of the faculty have been receptive to my plans to become a trauma or transplant surgeon. When I first applied to MUSM, my original plan was to do rural emergency medicine, general surgery, or internal medicine. I'm now leaning toward going to Virginia to practice. I haven't received a lot of grief about it.

Regarding MCG v. MUSM, I chose MUSM because I can't stand lectures. I remember in college, all I did during lectures was read magazines, do homework for other courses, read the text for the class the prof was lecturing in (and ignoring the prof), or just sleep through the lecture. I can't stand lectures. To this day, I find it hard to stay awake.

 

[Firebird]

Originally posted by hossofadoc
The MD schools that I know about are Marshall and ETSU.

A good percentage of DO schools this is the mission of the school: Pikeville, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, New England, MSU.

West Virginia University is allopathic. There is a DO school in Lewisburg, WV if that's what you're thinking.