Rural Pre-Med Summit

89 Attend Rural Pre-Med Summit
Students Take First Step to Career as Family Physicians

Duluth, Minn.  (November 4, 2006)  89 students attended an all-day Rural Pre-Med Summit today at the University of Minnesota Medical School – Duluth Campus.  The program was designed to help sophomore and junior premedical undergraduates from around the state 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, histology, heart sounds and pathology; also 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. 

Richard Ziegler, Ph.D., dean of the Medical School on the Duluth campus, commented that the mission of this school has never been more important to the state and the country.  “We’re proud of our record of recruiting and graduating students who want to practice family medicine. Because of the demand, we must work hard to keep that momentum going.”   

Each fall an average of 55 students are accepted to medical school at the Duluth campus.  After successfully concluding their first two years here, students are transferred on a noncompetitive basis to the Twin Cities campus to complete their studies for the M.D.  Compared to 10 percent of physicians nationally, 51 percent of all the students who matriculate at the Medical School, Duluth campus, enter family medicine residencies.