Rural-PRIME

In order for students to graduate from Rural-PRIME, they must fulfill all graduation requirements of the School of Medicine as well as the course requirements for Rural-PRIME.

Years 1 and 2

Required:

• Weekly seminar series (attendance at >80% of the seminars is necessary to receive a passing grade and meet this requirement)
   a.  Healthy Communities and Community Engagement,
   b.  Health Care Leadership
   c.  Health Technology
   d.  Health Equity
   e.  Health Advocacy
   f.    Rural California: assets, challenges and physician opportunities
• Rural PRIME Doctoring sessions
   a.  Rural Preceptors
   b.  Rural cases and standardized patients
• Center for Virtual Care sessions (3 sessions in year 1, 5 sessions in year 2)
   a.  Phlebotomy
   b.  Labor, delivery and vaginal laceration repair
   c.  BLS
   d.  Other clinical skill sessions

Optional:

• Health Care for the Underserved Seminar Series (Teleconferences between Davis and Sacramento)
• Community engagement projects in nearby rural communities

Year 3:

16 weeks of required clinical clerkships at rural sites

• 8 weeks of Primary Care
• 4 weeks of OB/GYN
• 4 weeks of Pediatrics

Year 4: 

Master's or alternative project related to Rural health care
 
Year 5:

• 4 weeks of rural clinical rotations (may fulfill school clinical weeks requirement)
• Equivalent of 4 weeks of selective credit, to be fulfilled by one or more of the following:
• Doctoring 4 (may fulfill school SSM requirement)
• Rural-PRIME Student Liaison position
• SPO related to rural health or rural health education (will fulfill school SPO requirement)
• Curriculum development for Rural-PRIME
• Community engagement project leadership

Clerkships: Of the forty-eight weeks of clerkships during the third year, Rural-PRIME students  are expected to complete 16 of those weeks at assigned Rural-PRIME Partner Sites.  If you need to request a modification to this requirement, please follow the following steps:

1. Please submit your request in writing to the Program Director. Requests should be submitted by December 15 of your second year 
2. Please contact the Program Coordinator to schedule a meeting with the Director within three weeks of submitting your exemption request.
3. An official decision regarding your exemption request will be made within one month of the request. The Program Director will review the decision with you. A document confirming the decision must be signed by the student and the Director and will be placed in the student’s official Record with the Registrar’s Office.

Implications of These Requests:
The School of Medicine has limited clerkship spots  available to the third year class. The school plans the year-long schedule based on the Rural-PRIME students participating in 16 weeks at rural clerkship sites.  By decreasing the number of weeks at a Rural-PRIME site, you will be displacing the number of available spots to the general medical school population. The Director will work with the Associate Dean of Curriculum as well as the Office of Curriculum Support to determine if the exemption can be approved based on the resources available.  If approved, your clerkship rotations and/or graduation date may be delayed due to the limited availability.

Masters or Alternative Project: 
Students in Rural-PRIME are expected to complete a Masters or Alternative project to promote their goals of becoming a physician leader.  Students who want to request to opt out of this requirement should complete the following steps:

1. Please submit your request in writing to the Program Director. Requests should be submitted by October 15 of your Third Year.
2. Please contact the Program Coordinator to schedule a meeting with the Director within three weeks of submitting your exemption request.
3. An official decision regarding your exemption request will be made within one month of the request. The Program Director will review the decision with you.  A document confirming the decision must be signed by the student and the Director and will be placed in the student’s official Record with the Registrar’s Office.

Students wishing to request exemption from Rural Clerkship or Masters/Alternative Project requirements for Rural-PRIME must follow the procedures outlined:
      
Requesting a Transfer out of Rural-PRIME

Students who wish to leave Rural-PRIME should follow the following steps:

1. Please submit your request in writing to the Program Director.
2. Please schedule a follow-up meeting with the Program Director within three weeks of submitting your request.  Additional meetings may be requested by the Program Director at their discretion.
3. An official decision, outlining the ruling and any stipulations attached to that decision, will be presented to the student with two months of receiving the initial request.  A document outlining the decision will be signed by the student, Program Director and Associate Dean for Admissions, and will be placed in the students’ official record in the Student Registrar’s Office.

Reasons for Requests:
 Students will need to provide a compelling reason for the request to be granted.  Such reasons may include:

• Changes in the health of the student or an immediate family member that will prohibit student from completing stipulated program requirements
• Recommendation from the CSP for reasons relating to Academic Success
• Radical change of interest

Implications of Requests:

The School of Medicine makes admissions decisions based on available resources in the respective programs. These include the number of facilitators and preceptors, group size, and clerkship slot availability for the admitted students. The group facilitators, preceptors and clerkship slots for Rural-PRIME students are the responsibility of the Rural-PRIME Program. If a student leaves the Rural-PRIME Program, the School of Medicine will attempt to find the needed resources to complete the student’s medical education, but the School does not guarantee that it will be able to provide the required clinical experiences to allow the student to continue their medical education without interruption. All requests to leave the program will be considered based on the needs and resources of the program and the School of Medicine.

Students wishing to obtain Rural-PRIME approval and support for PRIME Council or Community Engagement Events should submit a detailed proposal in writing to BOTH the Program Director AND the Program Manager.  Financial support for such initiatives is subject to availability of funds in the budget and alignment of the initiative with program goals. Students requesting Rural-PRIME payment for catering for such events should act in accordance with the guidelines outlined here.  Failure to comply with these guidelines or produce the required documentation will result in non-reimbursement.

Policy for using PRIME funds for food/catering:

Policy for Using Rural-PRIME Money for Food
Option 1: Rural-PRIME to Assist with the Ordering of Food

1. Submit Request to Rural-PRIME Coordinator within 3 weeks of event.  Requests should include the following information:
   a. Name and contact for student organizer
   b. Estimated number of people
   c. Goals or business purpose for meeting
   d. Estimated amount of expense proposed for approval
2. Once the student organizer has received approval for the expense, he/she should immediately contact Program Coordinator and provide the following information:
   a. Date, time, location of event
   b. Food preferences/ name of restaurant
   c. Number of attendees
   d. Contact name and phone number for day of event
3. Upon completion of the event, student organizer is responsible for providing the following information to Program Coordinator within one week of event:
   a. Sign-In sheet of participants
   b. Meeting agenda or outline of business purpose

Option 2: Student to Organize Ordering of Food

1. Submit Request to Rural-PRIME Coordinator within 3 weeks of event. Requests should include the following information:
   a. Name and contact for student organizer
   b. Estimated number of people
   c. Goals or business purpose for meeting
   d. Estimated amount of expense proposed for approval
2. Once the student organizer has received approval for the expense, he/she should make necessary arrangements. However, student needs to be aware that there are two possible options for payment:

a. Option 1: Student (NOT third-party) pays the expense out of pocket and is reimbursed by Rural-PRIME within university guidelines. Please note that the university will not reimburse a third-party who is not an Approved Vendor. Therefore, please do not ask anyone else other than a Rural-PRIME student to tender payment for catering.

b. Option 2: Vendor is an approved University vendor and will accept a University purchase order. Please work directly with Program Coordinator to receive a purchase order.

3. Upon completion of the event, the student organizer is responsible for providing the following information to Program Coordinator within one week of event:

a. Original receipt of purchase
b. Sign-In sheet of participants
c. Meeting agenda or outline of business purpose