Requirements
The specific required and recommended criteria for achieving the RUUTE Scholars designation is listed below in each of the four areas of engagement: Academic, Community Engagement, Clinical, and Leadership. All students regardless of residency state are encouraged to apply to RUUTE Scholars if interested.
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 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 can be applied to the elective credits necessary for completing the MD degree.
Peruse Graduate Certificate Options
The Pathways in Healthcare Program is an elective 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.
This is an immersive 8-week summer research experience that is available for students during the intercession between their 1st and 2nd year
Students will identify and collaborate with a University of Utah 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
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
Rural Outreach Programs (ROP): Participate in one (1) Rural Outreach Program (ROP) trip in a rural/underserved community, where students are required to teach health science modules to elementary, middle and high school students. ROP trips are scheduled during winter and spring breaks and run one to five days in length. If you are interested in participating in ROP, visit our webpage
Little RUUTES: The RUUTE program has developed a K-12 outreach pipeline where the RUUTE team visits K-12 schools in rural and/or underserved areas to get 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. Little RUUTE’s presentations are one hour in length. Presentation time does not include travel time. If you are interested in Little RUUTEs, visit our webpage.
RUUTE Undergraduate Ambassador Mentorship: To assist and mentor undergraduate students who are from rural/underserved areas of Utah and surrounding states as they apply to medical school. 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 UUSOM 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.
The Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Mentoring experience 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 interessted, 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
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.
Elective experiences can be conducted during phase 3. Elective experience range from 2 - 4 weeks and can be done in a variety of specialties. For more information please reach out to Heather.Vano@hsc.utah.edu
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 UUSOM medical student interested in participating in CEE, please email madelyn.carter@hsc.utah.edu or visit our webpage.
Time commitment for Students: 5 consecutive Weeks
Please note this experience can also count towards RUUTE Scholars Academic Requirement.
At the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah, medical students will participate in Longitudinal Integrated Clerkships (LICs). LIC's offer students an opportunity to learn about and explore different specialties in medicine and include the students as members of the health care team. A Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship is "a model of clinical education in which students participate in the comprehensive care of patients over time, engage in continuity of relationships with preceptors and evaluators, and meet core clinical competencies across multiple disciplines simultaneously" (International Consortium of Longitudinal Integrated Clerkships). RUUTE helps to facilitate LIC's in rural and underserved areas throughout Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.
Leadership Development
RUUTE Scholars must select two of the following
Participate in Rural Outreach Program Leadership: Upon completing a ROP trip as an MS1, you have the opportunity to apply to participate in ROP leadership (MS2-4). If selected, you will assist in ROP member recruitment and mentorship, establish budget funding from stakeholders, and write evaluation reports.
Rural Speaker Series: The Rural Speaker Series offers rural/underserved medical providers 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 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 leader ship inside, this interest group can help meet your requirement for leadership development.
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.
Throughout your time is a RUUTEs 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.
To find more ways to donate towards rural medical student scholarships, please visit the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine Website.
CONTACT US
Please contact the RUUTE Team with any questions, concerns, or suggestions.
Email: RUUTE@umail.utah.edu