Rural Medical Education Program (RMED)
RMED student with child
The Rural Medical Education Program, or RMED, offers medical students at SUNY Upstate a unique clinical education experience. RMED students live and learn in small communities, working side-by-side with local physicians.
RMED places third-year medical students in rural or small communities for up to nine consecutive months to work and learn under the supervision of family physicians and other specialists. Students are matched to teaching sites based on their preferences and academic interests.
RMED students assist in surgeries, conduct and read CT scans with radiologists and become part of a primary care practice providing personalized, continuous care across the entire spectrum.
Testimonials from two former RMED Students
"In RMED I had the opportunity to be the ONLY medical student in a sea of attendings.
This means that I was learning directly from practicing physicians in a community medical setting, both in the hospital and in the doctor's office. While my colleagues were observing surgeries from the other end of a retractor, with the residents only getting the hands-on training, I was first assistant to the surgeon on every case we performed."
—Casey Patunoff, MD, and RMED graduate
Cool Cases Await!
"You go into a small community that's not used to having med students, and you work with doctors who are eager to talk to you about cool cases in surgery and in the emergency room. Pretty soon every doctor is calling you in with their cool cases. You have to learn to say no sometimes. Otherwise you'll never leave the hospital."
—Joshua Steinberg MD, former RMED student and instructor