Rural Medicine Pathway Program
The undergraduate Rural Medicine Pathway Program is composed of Carolina Covenant Scholars from underserved rural populations within North Carolina who want to make a lasting impact within their communities. The program is the result of a partnership between the UNC School of Medicine and the Carolina Covenant Scholars Program with a goal to increase the number of students from rural NC applying to and pursuing Medical school.
Benefits of RMPP
- Faculty mentor and advising
- Build understanding of rural medicine and the application process of applying to medical school.
- Partnership work with community provider and/or clinical team over summer engagement experience during the summer after sophomore year
- Cohort-based programming and cohort-based community service opportunities to build peer-to-peer relationships
- Support for internships and shadowing experiences during academic year
- Support for application for nationally recognized UNC-Medical Education Development (MED) program between junior and senior year
Program Eligibility
- Have to be Covenant Scholars
- Have to be second year students
- Preference will be given to students from rural North Carolina
Expectations
Academic Year:
- Attendance at regular cohort meetings with faculty directors
- Attendance at sponsored events to highlight and share program
- Community-service once/semester with cohort (SECU house, Habitat for Humanity, etc.)
- Participation in recruitment events for new program members
- Regular check-ins with program faculty directors
- Provide internal transcripts for advising
Summer Experience Project:
- Participation with cohort members and faculty directors in developing an approved project
- A minimum of 80 hours total engaged with community-based clinic over the 4-6 weeks
- Committed time exploring and learning more about your community around social determinants of health
- Attendance at periodic meetings with the academic directors for updates on summer activities
- Presenting the project in the fall to prospective students and other interested parties
- Examples of past projects
Application
- Covenant Scholars who meet the eligibility requirement (sophomores from a rural NC county) will receive an invitation from the Carolina Covenant office to learn more about the program along with an application.
- For additional information, contact Brian Hogan, brian_hogan@unc.edu or Maribel Borger, mborger@unc.edu.
