Curriculum

The Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine (WARM) 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.

WARM students will spend their first two years in Madison following the basic science curriculum. They will relocate during years three and four and will complete the clinical requirements in a regional and rural learning community as well as complete a longitudinal rural curriculum. This learning environment will allow students to begin to address the health care needs of rural citizens while benefiting from small learning groups.

Depending on a student's specialty interest, students can spend blocks of time in Madison or at other locations for a rotation with a specialized focus.

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 Medicine 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 Medicine's curriculum is structured to provide hands-on learning and medical students will learn a variety of clinical skills relevant to rural practice. Students will be prepared for residency in any specialty area. Rural Wisconsin hospitals and health systems have expressed a need for physicians of all specialties.

Regional and Rural Learning Communities

Marshfield Clinic and its clinic in Rice Lake hosted 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.