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Rural Pathway Program Information

The Internal Medicine/Pediatrics Residency Rural Pathway at the University of Utah is a unique opportunity to train in dual specialties at an tertiary academic medical center accompanied by a focused curriculum and rotations at multiple rural and underserved sites.

Beginning in 2020, we are matching residents into this pathway who desire to become leaders in rural and underserved health. Supported by a federal Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) grant, we will train physicians from the University of Utah residency programs who are well prepared and committed to practice in rural and underserved areas.

The University of Utah serves an exceptionally large catchment area that includes a diverse urban and rural population. There are endless opportunities to provide quality health care, with particular emphasis on management of complex chronic disease, hospital to home transitions, opioid use disorder, behavioral health, and telehealth. We have developed a novel curriculum specialized for rural health needs. The residents will also be able to participate in the global, rural, and underserved training opportunities available in both the Internal Medicine and Pediatric categorial sides.

We will work with the following programs as part of the training: Project ECHO (Extension for Community Health Care Outcomes), Medication Assisted Treatment, rural child psychiatry, telemedicine, and the Rural Home Hospital Program. We have partnered with the Indian Health Service, VA Medical Center, the U of U GME Resident Engagement & Training for Underserved and Rural Needs (RETURN) program, the U of U Global, Rural and Underserved Child Health (GRUCH) Fellowship, U of U Rural & Underserved Utah Training Experience (RUUTE) and rural training sites throughout the Intermountain West. These include Mountain West Medical Center (Tooele, Utah), Community Hospital of Anaconda (Anaconda, Montana), Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility (Chinle, Arizona), Northern Navajo Medical Center (Shiprock, NM), Blue Mountain Hospital (Blanding, UT), and Ashley Regional Medical Center (Vernal, Utah). 

For more details, please visit our Rural Pathway Overview link below.