RUUTE Scholars Requirements

Requirements

The required criteria for achieving the RUUTE Scholars designation is listed below in each of the four areas of engagement: Academic, Community Engagement, Clinical Engagement, and Leadership Development

By applying to Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah as a RUUTE Scholar, you commit to participate in the following activities throughout your medical school career.

Academic

RUUTE Scholars are required to pick one of the following

Graduate Certificate

Graduate Certificates offer a structured continuum of education for University of Utah medical students and formal academic record of coherent accomplishment in this growing field. Graduate Certificate awardees are required to complete a minimum of 15 academic elective credits within the program. All academic credits are applied to the elective credits necessary for completing the MD degree.

Pathway Programs

Pathways are longitudinal learning experience designed to expose students to domains in healthcare at the systems level. For each pathway, there are major initiatives happening within the larger health system; this represents a great opportunity for students to find mentorship and projects in areas which represent key strengths of our school.

RUUTE Medical Student Research

This is an immersive 8-week summer research experience that is available for students during the intersession between Phase 1 and Phase 2

Students will identify and collaborate with a SFESOM faculty member to develop a rural or underserved health research project to work on over the summer. Selected students will receive a stipend to work on their project during the 8-week summer experience and be expected to work roughly 35-40 hours a week for the entirety of the program. Students will gain first-hand experience conducting scientific research and will work towards completing a scientific research poster to present at the Medical Student Research Forum that occurs in the fall each year.

Research opportunities can be found independent from RUUTE as well. Please check in with a RUUTE team member to see if your research fits our criteria. If you are interested please visit our Medical Student Research webpage

Community Engagement Experience (CEE)

The RUUTE Community Engagement Experience (CEE) familiarizes students with identifying community health needs and creating intervention(s) to address that need. Students will become immersed in the community via clinical time and community service. By completing this experience in a rural area, students will develop a well-rounded understanding of differences in health systems. CEE also creates mutually beneficial relationships with rural communities. Overall, CEE is a robust learning opportunity for students that fosters foundational, experiential, and interdisciplinary learning in varied cultural, geographic, and socioeconomic settings and we hope it will be highly valued in students’ growth as a healthcare professional.

If you are a SFESOM medical student interested in participating in CEE, please visit our CEE webpage

Time commitment for Students: 5 Weeks

Community Engagement

RUUTE Scholars must complete two of the following:

2 Rural Outreach Program (ROP) Trips

Participate in one (1) Rural Outreach Program (ROP) trip in a rural/underserved community, where students are required to teach health science modules to high school students. ROP trips are scheduled during academic breaks and run one to five days in length.

2 Little RUUTEs Presentations

The RUUTE program has developed a K-12 outreach pipeline where the RUUTE team visits K-12 schools in rural/underserved areas to get elementary students excited and interested in the health sciences. You can accompany the team and teach a class with them or teach a class by yourself or with a peer. This is similar to the rural outreach programs, but are done outside of winter and spring break. If you are interested in Little RUUTEs, visit our webpage.

RUUTE Undergraduate Ambassador Mentorship

RUUTE Undergraduate Ambassadors are undergrad students from all colleges/universities in Utah and the intermountain west interested in the health sciences. To assist and mentor these students you will be assigned an undergraduate student at the start of each semester you participate. You are required to meet with your undergraduate student at least two (2) times per semester, or more as needed, to discuss a variety of topics related to SFESOM and medical student life. If you are interested in participating, email Kacey.Madsen@hsc.utah.edu and visit our RUUTE Undergraduate Ambassador webpage for more information.

RUUTE Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Mentoring

SURE student mentoring is designed for medical students who have a passion for research to provide support for the undergraduate cohort through being a resource, to ask questions, and available to provide advice and research knowledge throughout the experience. If you are interested, reach out to Kacey.Madsen@hsc.utah.edu and visit our webpage for more information.

Clinical Engagement

Complete at least one of the following clinical experiences:

Traditional Rural Clerkship* For Legacy Curriculum

If you are a medical student participating in the Legacy Curriculum and completing a traditional block clerkship in a rural location, this will count towards your RUUTE Scholars clinical requirement.

Rural Elective Experience

Rural clinical elective experiences can be conducted during Phase 3. Elective experiences range from 2 - 4 weeks and can be done in a variety of specialties. For more information please visit this webpage.

Community Engagement Experience (CEE)

If you are a SFESOM student interested in participating in CEE, please email madelyn.carter@hsc.utah.edu or visit our webpage.

5 Credit Hours

Please note this experience can also count towards RUUTE Scholars Academic Requirement.

Leadership Development

RUUTE Scholars must select two of the following:

Participate in Rural Outreach Program Leadership

Upon completing a ROP trip during Phase 1, you have the opportunity to apply to participate in ROP leadership. If selected, you will assist in ROP member recruitment and mentorship, establish budget funding from stakeholders, and write evaluation reports. For more information please view our webpage.

Rural Speaker Series

The Rural Speaker Series offers rural/underserved medical providers the opportunity to share their experience practicing and living in a rural/underserved area. As a RUUTE scholar, you are asked to attend at least four (4) Rural Speaker Series, assist in provider recruitment, and assist in provider introduction and meeting logistics.

URISE Leadership

URISE is a student interest group that serves as a liaison between the student voice and RUUTE. URISE hosts activities, meeting, and volunteer opportunities. As a RUUTE Scholar, being involved with leadership inside, this interest group can help meet your requirement for leadership development.

Community Leadership

Taking on leadership within your community or other interest groups on campus, allows you to be able to make the connection to how to better serve your rural/underserved communities. This will allow you to address social determinants of health in a variety of settings, such as, community health clinics, food banks, after school programs, etc. A self-directed community leadership project need to be approved by the RUUTE team prior and should be no less than 15 hours of volunteering time.

RUUTE Networking Events

Throughout your time as a RUUTE scholar, you could be presented with the opportunity to participate in regional affairs, student panels or leadership, be involved in legislative involvement, variety of speaker, events, conferences, etc. These experiences can vary in time and level of commitment. Participating in these experiences can count towards your leadership development.