Medical Student Education

The Department of Family Medicine and Community Health is committed to offering all medical students with quality medical education. Our faculty and community-based preceptors are engaged in all levels of medical education, from your required first- and second-year curriculum to your in-person clinical experiences in the third- and fourth-year. We have a diverse selection of hands-on electives for students interested in pursuing a career in family medicine. For students interested in other specialties, we guarantee by the end of your required family medicine clerkship you will understand the important role family medicine physicians hold in our healthcare systems and how your future medical partnership can better serve your community.

Our program in Medical Student Education works with a diverse population of community-based clinical educators across the greater Twin Cities metro area and beyond. Their support and clinical knowledge have contributed to many medical students becoming successful physicians today. We are committed to supporting and strengthening our family medicine preceptors in their faculty development and clinical teaching skills to improve their own practice and provide outstanding clinical education experiences to our medical students.

For Medical Students

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For Medical Students

Overview of Courses

Family medicine faculty from the Twin Cities campus direct the following educational offerings:

Required

Essentials of Clinical Medicine - required for medical students years one and two
Family Medicine Clerkship - required for medical students years three and four participating in their clinical curriculum

Longitudinal

UMN medical students receive the opportunity to apply for or enroll in the following clerkships. Completion of any of these experiences fulfills the Family Medicine Clerkship requirement.

UMN Rural Physician Associate Program (RPAP)

Nine-month, internationally renowned rural educational opportunity for UMN third-year medical students
Learn more about the Rural Physician Associate Program

UMN Metropolitan Physician Associate Program (MetroPAP)

Nine-month longitudinal elective immersing UMN third-year students in the care of an urban population and communities that are underserved with limited access to health care
Broadway Family Medicine Clinic, the clinic of our North Memorial residency program, is one of the clinic sites
Learn more about the Metropolitan Physician Associate Program

Urban Community Ambulatory Medicine (UCAM)

Twelve-week urban medicine clerkship for UMN third- or fourth-year students
Learn more about Urban Community Ambulatory Medicine

Electives

Addiction and substance use
Cardiovascular medicine
Community health
Family medicine research
Healthcare for the underserved
Human sexuality research
Obstetrics
Palliative medicine and hospice
Rural medicine care
Sexual problems in clinical medicine
Sports medicine

View electives

Visiting Students

Apply in VSLO to rotations with University of Minnesota family medicine residency programs! Applications are accepted March 1 for the 2024-25 academic year (May 6, 2024 – May 4, 2025).

The following family medicine electives are available to visiting students with exact dates listed in VSLO.

Acting Intern to Family Medicine rotation dates include:

5/6-6/2/24	7/29-8/25/24	10/28-11/24/24
6/3-6/30/24	9/2-9/29/24	11/25-12/22/24
7/1-7/28/24	9/30-10/27/24	1/6-2/2/25

Students will be notified of their placement 4 weeks prior to rotation start date.

To qualify, students must attend domestic LCME-accredited or COCA-accredited medical schools and earn credits for elective rotations.

A limited number of reimbursements for the VSLO fee is available for in-person courses (approximately $242). Email the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine and Community Health Medical Student Education (MSE) office at mse@umn.edu after completing the course to request reimbursement or for additional information.

Please visit the Medical School’s Visiting Students page for more information on student eligibility and the application process.

Interested in a Career in Family Medicine?

Medical students interested in completing their family medicine residency at the University of Minnesota may view our family medicine residency page, which includes information on:

Our eight family medicine residency programs
The application process

Please contact fmrp@umn.edu for more information about residency in family medicine at the University of Minnesota.

Medical Observerships: Due to the highly competitive nature of opportunities for more advanced trainees and those informal training programs, we are unable to coordinate shadowing and observation roles. Alternative opportunities include:

Pre-Health Student Resource Center - for more information on the University’s Medical School or a career in medicine
Student Experiences, Fairview (students@Fairview.org) - for observership or volunteer opportunities