Program Overview

APPLICATIONS FOR SUMMER 2010 will be available mid-December!
The Rural/Underserved opportunities Program (R/UOP) is a four-week, elective immersion experience in community medicine for students between their first and second years of medical school. During their 4-week rotation, students live in rural or urban underserved communities throughout Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho (WWAMI ). They work side-by-side with local physicians providing health care to underserved populations. Administered by the UW Department of Family Medicine, R/UOP is a collaborative effort of the UW School of Medicine, WWAMI campuses and the Area Health Education Centers. It is governed by a Steering Committee of major participants. The program has strong support from the many volunteer physician preceptors and the communities they serve. It is also supported by the Washington and Idaho Academies of Family Physicians. For more information, contact the R/UOP Administrative Offices.

Program Goals

• Provide students with an early exposure to the challenges and rewards of practicing primary care medicine in a rural or urban underserved setting.
• Promote in students a positive attitude toward rural and urban underserved community medicine.
• Provide students with an opportunity to learn how community health care systems function.

Eligibility & Student Participation R/UOP is open to University of Washington medical students only and is extremely popular with students. Students must be in academic good standing to be considered. Over the past five years, greater than 50% of all medical students from the UW and WWAMI campuses have participated in R/UOP. Approximately equal numbers of female and male students participate.

Preceptors R/UOP Preceptors are exemplary physicians who volunteer their time to teach students. Most preceptors are Family Practice Physicians; other primary care physicians such as Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Obstetrics and Gynecology also precept R/UOP students. Preceptors are eligible for appointment as clinical faculty in the UW School of Medicine.

Community Involvement Student exposure to community, economic, and lifestyle issues, social, and recreational opportunities are encouraged. Student participation in a wide range of community experiences enriches the R/UOP experience as well as providing context for what the student is encountering in the clinical setting.

Program Funding R/UOP is funded by the Area Health Education Centers (AHECs), WWAMI medical programs, Washington and Idaho Academy of Family Physicians, UW School of Medicine, and by supporting foundations and organizations (List of Contributors ). Students receive stipends, travel money and assistance with housing expenses. Most of student housing is donated by the communities.