Rural Medical Scholars Program
Contact: OFFICE OF STUDENT ADMISSIONS
Location: Weiskotten Hall, 766 Irving Ave., Syracuse, NY 13210 Phone: 315 464-4570 or toll-free 800 736-2171 Email: admiss@upstate.edu Website: www.upstate.edu/prospective/  RMED student Kathryn Weibrecht scrubs for surgery with Dr. Elizabeth Tucker at Community Memorial Hospital in Hamilton, NY. SUNY Upstate Medical University is committed to doing something about the shortage of doctors in small communities and rural areas in our region. Through the Rural Medical Scholars Program, Upstate will provide additional support for students who want to practice medicine in the state's underserved areas. Students accepted into the Rural Medical Scholars Program receive early assurance of acceptance into the Rural Medical Education Program (RMED), which pairs third-year students with board-certified family physicians in small communities in the region. Benefits of Being an RMED ScholarIn their first two years at Upstate College of Medicine, students who self-select for the Rural Medical Scholars Program can take advantage of such opportunities as:
Upstate is not alone in its commitment to bolstering medical care in the region. Various programs are in place in communities, as well as the state's recently proposed Doctors Across New York program, to help offset the cost of becoming a physician. Rural Medical Scholars will have the opportunity, in their third year at Upstate, to reap the benefits of the already successful RMED program, which is expanding its reach into the region. |
RMED Scholars Program:
To be considered for this program, select RMSP on your Upstate secondary application. Our students report..."In RMED I had the opportunity to be the ONLY medical student in a sea of attendings. “This means that I was learning directly from practicing physicians in a community medical setting, both in the hospital and in the doctor's office. While my colleagues were observing surgeries from the other end of a retractor, with the residents only getting the hands-on training, I was first assistant to the surgeon on every case we performed." 
—Casey Patunoff, MD, and RMED graduate Cool Cases Await!"You go into a small community that's not used to having med students, and you work with doctors who are eager to talk to you about cool cases in surgery and in the emergency room. Pretty soon every doctor is calling you in with their cool cases. You have to learn to say no sometimes. Otherwise you'll never leave the hospital." —Joshua Steinberg MD, former RMED student and instructor |