Statewide Campus

In keeping with the Wisconsin Idea, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison sees the borders of the state as the dimensions of the medical school.

Hundreds of physicians throughout the state volunteer their time and expertise by serving as community faculty and mentors to MD Program medical students. In each of their four years of training, medical students have educational experiences with community faculty at hospitals and clinics throughout Wisconsin.

Beginning in the fall of their first year, medical students at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health start to develop their doctor-patient communication skills as they learn to obtain a history from patients in clinics in Madison and surrounding counties. They also develop physical examination skills at community sites in their first and second years.

During the third year, medical students fulfill their clinical requirements in rotations at not only Madison hospitals and clinics, but in La Crosse, Marshfield and Milwaukee, as well as other Wisconsin communities.

Some students may pursue a Master of Public Health degree, working with public health practitioners during their one-year program and field experiences. The fourth-year preceptorship, required of all medical students, takes place in more than 30 communities across the state.

This preceptorship experience, which began in 1926, was the first such program in the United States, developed in response to the national recognition that medical students need to learn to apply the science of medicine in community settings. This program is seen by many as the capstone experience of medical education at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.