Longitudinal Preceptorship Program

This program is required of all medical students during the first two years of medical school. Rural Health Scholars may choose to be assigned to a primary care physician who practices in a rural or small town in Massachusetts. Most of these placements are with family practice physicians in Central Massachusetts, although a limited number of placements may be available with pediatricians and general internists.

"I was excited by the rural health scholars program at UMass Chan and have enjoyed the seminars and clinical experiences it has offered. The Barre Family Health Center is a great place to spend some time during the LPP program or the clinical years!"

-Johanna, UMass Chan '05

"Barre is a really interesting place to do LPP because although it is only 40 minutes outside of Worcester, the patient population is in some ways drastically different from what that you would see in the city. There is a large farming community here, and you see more injuries relating to manual labor and to living out in the country. Although the clinic is small compared to a hospital, the doctors are all very skilled and work together in a really cohesive manner. The small size of the clinic allows for having patient rounds each day, where the residents and doctors present their most interesting and/or challenging cases of the day to get feedback and advice from the other practitioners. Because many patients do not want to have to come into Worcester for minor procedures, the family practitioner takes on a more comprehensive role here, and practices skills that in an urban setting would often be referred out to other doctors. Seeing rural medicine in action is a really valuable experience, even just for one or two visits!" 

-Gina, UMass Chan '10