Curriculum

The Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine is a rural education program within the MD Program curriculum at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison. Medical students will participate in an integrated rural core curriculum all four years at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health.

Some educational experiences and benefits of the Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine curriculum include:

• Clinical experiences in the Patient, Doctor and Society course during the first two years at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health can be done in smaller communities near Madison.
• Students can participate in the Rural Health Interest Group, a student organization that meets regularly to learn about topics relevant to rural medicine.
• An Overview of Rural Health elective, offered during the second year of medical school, will be part of the transition of relocating to a regional and rural learning community and introduce the key concepts of rural medicine and prepare students for clinical work in rural Wisconsin.

Student-Centered Rural Curriculum

The Wisconsin Academy for Rural Health will ensure that its students are meeting the same goals, objectives and competencies that the traditional program requires. This will be done while tailoring students’ experiences to meet their career interests. 

The Wisconsin Academy for Rural Health's curriculum is structured to provide hands-on learning and medical students will learn a variety of clinical skills relevant to rural practice.

Regional and Rural Learning Communities

Marshfield Clinic and its clinic in Rice Lake will begin hosting the first group of Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine students in July 2009. Gundersen Lutheran in La Crosse will host students beginning in July 2010 and Aurora BayCare in Green Bay will host WARM students beginning in July 2011.

Marshfield Clinic, Gundersen Lutheran and Aurora are academic affiliates of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and are a part of the school’s Statewide Campus.