Rural Health Professions Program (RHPP)

Mission

The Rural Health Professions Program (RHPP) is a program of the University of Arizona College of Medicine which matches medical students with physicians working in small towns throughout Arizona.

Program Goals

• Support and nurture students' interest in careers in rural settings

• Provide opportunities for students to experience both the challenges and gratification of rural medical practice

• Enable a mentoring relationship between students and rural practitioners

• Encourage students to enter primary care careers

• Establish working and learning partnerships among rural physicians, College of Medicine faculty and students

The primary objective of RHPP is that students will have a rural experience.  We strive to place a student so that he/she will have a longitudinal experience in the same rural location with the same preceptor, patients, and community.  By doing so, the student will get to know his/her community, its benefits and attractions, as well as its social problems and medical issues, while developing clinical skills.