2007 Rural Pre-Med Summit

80 Attend Rural Pre-Med Summit

Students Take First Step to Career as Family Physicians

80 students from colleges throughout the region attended an all-day Rural Pre-Med Summit in October at the University of Minnesota Medical School – Duluth Campus.  The program was designed to help sophomore and junior premedical undergraduates become competitive applicants for medical school. Faculty and staff from the Duluth and Twin Cities campuses, rural physicians and current first and second year medical students discussed the procedures, challenges and rewards of pursuing a career in medicine. 

Students participated in:

• Breakout groups:  Hands-on experiences in OB/delivery, medical imaging, heart sounds and pathology;
• MCAT entry exams, writing personal statements, interviewing for medical school and applying for financial aid. 
• Medical School tour
• Panels of medical students and rural physicians sharing their experiences

The mission of the University of Minnesota Medical School in Duluth, to educate students to become family physicians working in rural and Native American communities, is becoming more critical for Minnesota and many other states.  The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) recently cited the results of a study sponsored by Merritt Hawkins, a national physician recruiting company, which reported that recruitment requests for family physicians surged by 55 percent in 2006, outpacing all specialty and subspecialty categories. 

This fall a record 58 students entered medical school on the Duluth campus.  Compared to 10 percent of physicians nationally, 51 percent of all the students who matriculated at the Medical School, Duluth campus, enter family medicine residencies. 

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