Students—Experiences

Challenging Patient-Provider Scenarios

“The communications curriculum, which is unique to RMED, is an excellent learning tool. An actor plays a patient who presents symptoms while the communications preceptor critiques your interactions with the ‘patient.’ Rmed students get to choose to work on the patient-provider scenarios that are most challenging for them, such as communicating with an angry or depressed patient.”

Heather Mackey Fowler, MD, ’03
RMED in Cortland, NY
— population 18,390

Practice Full
Range of Health Care

“In larger cities like Syracuse, most doctors develop a subspecialty. If you practice primary care, your most challenging cases are often referred to specialists, even though you may be proficient in providing excellent care. In small towns, doctors make use of the full spectrum of their health care skills. They have a love of teaching and learning; their practice is never boring. They are the smartest doctors I’ve ever met.”

Joshua Steinberg MD, ’95
RMED in Oswego, NY
— population 20,000

Continuity Creates
Rich Experience

“The most valuable part of my experience was that I was able to develop a rapport with my patients and see them throughout treatment. In a traditional setting, the third year of medical education is like starting a new job every six weeks — different subjects, new doctors and nurses — you feel like you are continuously interviewing. In my host community, I experienced newness for the first month or two, but then began to see how the entire system worked. All of the frustration, uncertainty and competition with classmates was eliminated; I was able to build vertically on my knowledge base.”

A Week in Family Practice text

An excerpt from the diary of a RMED student. It gives an idea of what her days were like on site in Saranac Lake.