Rural Elective Coursework

The RUUTE faculty and curriculum designer have developed some unique elective coursework with a focus on rural medicine and health. These courses are available throughout the academic and are either synchronous or asynchronous virtual classes. More rural electives are being developed throughout the year and will be communicated to UUSOM medical students once they become available. Our current offerings of rural elective courses can be found below.

Telehealth is a rapidly expanding technology that has been adopted by various medical professionals as a new means of care delivery. The utilization of telemedicine has ranged from performing standard office visits to delivering care to rural or underserved areas with less access to specialty care. With the recent COVID pandemic, it has also become a staple for emergency preparedness and a solution for continued care practices. However, many medical schools lack formal training of their students in how to conduct these visits. There is also a lack of awareness in how this technology is used within different subspecialties. This course is available to all medical students with the primary focus being rising MS3 medical students.

The “Sustainability, Medicine, & Health” elective is an opportunity to explore the diverse populations in the State of Utah and the challenges and opportunities that exist in working in green healthcare and the impact of the environment on medicine, specifically when treating populations most impacted by environmental changes. Students in this course will gain a greater awareness about climate change and the environmental conditions that exist in Utah and also the complexity of issues facing healthcare providers and patients in Utah. Students will also be able to learn from the various environmental and healthcare agencies throughout the State of Utah and elsewhere in their quest to keep the environment healthy and safe. Students will be invited to consider incorporating sustainability principles into their future practice and working in green healthcare administration as a potential future career choice.

The Rural & Underserved Utah Training Experience (RUUTE) program is excited about the rural research opportunities planned for medical students in the upcoming academic year. The Research & Innovation elective is an opportunity to explore the fundamentals of research and scientific communication and inspire future physicians and clinician-scientists to discover how patient care and diagnosis, prevention and treatment of disease can be largely influenced by biomedical research. This course is designed to inspire physicians to explore opportunities in biomedical research and to examine creativity and innovation in the scientific space. Lectures will include fundamentals of the scientific method, research ethics and responsible conduct of research (specifically regarding human and animal subjects) and communicating science to various audiences to gain a greater awareness about the research process and understand the challenges and joys of the research experience.