Rural Underserved Opportunities Program
**RUOP is managed by the Office of Rural Programs. For more information, please see the RUOP-III website, linked below**
An experience-driven investigation of an issue will be developed by the student while participating in the Rural Underserved Opportunities Program (RUOP). This is a six week experience and students get the opportunity to live in rural or urban underserved communities throughout Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. They work side-by-side with local physicians providing health care to rural and underserved populations. Students will closely observe health care in a community setting, then develop a project based on those observations. The project can take several forms, such as a community assessment to help strengthen existing resources and programs in the community.
2020 RUOP Information Session Schedule:
| Region | Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montana | mid-November | (MT) | Zoom |
| Spokane | mid-November | (PT) | Zoom |
| Alaska | mid-November | (AKST) | Zoom |
| Wyoming | mid-November | (MT) | Zoom |
| Idaho | mid-November | (PT) | Zoom |
| Seattle | mid-November | (PT) | Zoom |
General Timeline
| 12/01/21 | RUOP Applications open |
| 01/04/22 | RUOP Applications due |
| 02/28/22 | Accepted students commit to participate in RUOP |
| Spring 2022 | Mandatory orientation (TBD, usually March) |
| Summer 2022 | Complete the RUOP experience |
| Fall 2022 | Present your work at the Medical Student III Poster Session |
Contact
- Faculty Director: Toby Keys, keyst@uw.edu
- Education Specialist: Alexa Lawson, alex406@uw.edu