VCOM - 2019 Annual Report

Rural and Community-Based Education

V COM provides clinical instruction to its third- and fourth-year medical students by partnering with community-based hospitals throughout Appalachia and beyond. Through exposure to rural and medically underserved areas, students receive significant hands-on clinical training where they also gain an appreciation for the many rewards of rural medicine. Students spend six of the nine months of their third year in community- based hospitals that hold 100 to 400 beds. They spend a minimum of three months in affiliated practices where core primary care training is available.

West Virginia

21

19

14

Virginia

8 9 10

13 12

1

16

26

20

15

4

5

11

25

2

6

7

27

3

18

17

North Carolina

24

22

23 28

41

30

46

42

44

32 31

29

33

38

47

36

34

37

40

35

Alabama

South Carolina

Georgia

50

45

39

VCOM–Virginia VCOM–Carolinas VCOM–Auburn

43 48

49

51

52

Working under the guidance of faculty physicians at these clinical sites, students are well prepared for the rotations of the fourth year. These sites provide exposure to a more traditional academic health center and residency structure.

53

Florida

54

34