PROGRAMS

Office of Rural Programs (ORP) is a division of the UW School of Medicine Curriculum Office. Established in 2016, ORP unites the RUOP, TRUST, and WRITE programs under one leadership. Its aim is to develop rural training opportunities in the WWAMI region and advance the rural physician workforce through quality and innovative medical student training. Since its inception, ORP has added three new programs: WWAMI Area Health Education Center (AHEC), Olympia Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (Olympia LIC), and Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP).

To learn more about rural opportunities at the UW School of Medicine, contact us.

Olympia Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (Olympia LIC) 
The Olympia LIC is an 11-month longitudinal clerkship with an emphasis on community care and based in the small urban community of Olympia, Washington. A longitudinal integrated clerkship allows a student over time to experience multiple medical disciplines. This is opposed to a traditional clerkship that is specialty-focused, such as pediatrics, and usually lasts for a more discrete period of time, often 6 weeks.

Rural Underserved Opportunities Program (RUOP)
RUOP is a four-week elective immersion experience in community medicine for students between their first and second years of medical school. RUOP provides students with an early exposure to the challenges and rewards of practicing primary care medicine in a rural or urban underserved setting.

Targeted Rural Underserved Track (TRUST)
TRUST trains University of Washington WWAMI medical students for careers working in underserved rural areas and underserved small cities of the WWAMI region.

WWAMI Rural Integrated Training Experience (WRITE)
WRITE offers selected third-year medical students a mix of ambulatory and hospital training through a 22/24-week clinical education clerkship at a rural primary care teaching site. Throughout the program, WRITE students develop practice styles while learning how to treat a broad range of medical, surgical, and psychological problems.

WWAMI Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Program
The AHEC program works to improve the diversity, distribution, and quality of the healthcare workforce in Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. The WWAMI AHEC Program office works in partnership with regional AHECs to develop programs that will bolster the healthcare workforce in rural and small city areas.

Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP)
The Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) at the University of Washington includes four programs to help students gain valuable experience in the journey towards a career in healthcare or health related sciences. HCOP programs are open to high school students, college students, and students currently enrolled in a health professional school.

Office of Rural Programs
University of Washington School of Medicine
1959 NE Pacific Street, E-301 Health Sciences Center
Box 356340
Seattle, WA 98195

E: somrural@uw.edu
P:  (206) 685-9497