With a founding mission that emphasizes community service, UC Davis School of Medicine recently launched a new program to help increase health-care access for underserved populations living in rural areas. Called Rural-PRIME, this unique program is designed to train the best and the brightest students for a fulfilling career in rural primary care medicine. It is an opportunity that offers a range of experiences, from public health and community service to the use of leading-edge medical technologies like telemedicine.

Rural-PRIME is a combined, five-year M.D. and master's degree program. It focuses on developing physicians who can become leaders and advocates for improving health-care delivery throughout the state's smaller, more isolated communities. Rural-PRIME offers an innovative curriculum, beginning with the first year of medical school. It is specifically geared towards students from rural backgrounds who have a strong desire to make a difference in communities like the ones where they were raised.

• Clinical experiences through rural preceptorships and immersion in rural communities
  
  
• Mentoring by rural physicians for a deeper understanding about the small community practice and public health leadership
  
  
• Clinical technique (doctoring) courses taught by rural physician faculty, with an emphasis on cultural sensitivity and rural case studies
  
  
• Integrated master’s degrees in Public Health, Health Informatics or other health-care related fields
  
  
• Core clinical clerkships focusing on culture, health-care issues, epidemiology and economics in rural California
  
  
• Extensive experience and opportunities to use the latest health-care technology and telecommunications:
  
  
  • Computerized patient simulators a UC Davis Center for Virtual Care provide realistic experience and training in emergency medicine and trauma care;
    
    
  • Innovative clinical training center, with patient actors, offers skills training in a lifelike setting;
    
    
  • High tech telemedicine connections, offering quick access for remote areas to the specialty care of UC Davis Health System (as a longtime leader in the use of this technology, UC Davis now has an internationally recognized program); and
    
    
  • State-of-the-art medical education facility, with "smart" classrooms and distance learning capabilities, connecting rural physicians with the resources of an entire academic health system.

To learn more

• For more information, call (916) 734-1322.
  
  
• Download this information in PDF format.

Rural-PRIME is part of the University of California’s Programs in Medical Education.