The Department of Family, Internal and Rural Medicine (FIRM) houses the Rural Community Health Minor and the Rural Medical Scholars Program. The Rural Community Health Minor provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to complete coursework in health care, health policy, and epidemiology, with a particular focus on rural communities. The Rural Medical Scholars Program is a graduate level program that prepares outstanding rural scholars for family medicine or primary care practice in Alabama. Scholars selected to participate in the program, which is exclusively for students from rural Alabama. FIRM also offers opportunities for undergraduate students to shadow physicians delivering patient care and to collaborate with faculty on health related research.
Programs
Rural Community Health, Minor
Rural Medical Scholars Program
The Rural Medical Scholars Program prepares outstanding rural scholars for family medicine or primary care practice in Alabama. Scholars selected to participate in the program, which is exclusively for students from rural Alabama, enroll in preparatory courses at The University of Alabama (the Master of Science in Rural Community Health). Upon completion of their studies, they must meet the requirements for admission to medical school. Students matriculate two years at The University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham for the basic medical sciences component of their curricula and then return to Tuscaloosa to the College for the clinical clerkship years, where they are also involved in special medical experiences that include rural preceptorships. For more information about the Rural Medical Scholars Program, contact: Susan Guin, Associate Professor and Associate Director of Rural Programs, College of Community Health Sciences, smguin@ua.edu.
Courses
This course will match each student with a physician at University Medical Center or one of our community partners. Students will shadow a physician for one half day per week throughout the semester. Students will gain firsthand knowledge of the practice of medicine in a primary care setting, have frequent opportunities to observe the physician-patient relationship, and explore medicine as a career path. Students will be directed to readings relevant to the patient care matters that they encounter and will document their observations via written reflections. Thirty-five (35) hours of shadowing are required over the course of the semester.
Designed to help the student recognize environmental and occupational health hazards in the rural setting, the effects of exposure to these hazards, and preventive measures that should be taken to avoid them.