University of Arizona medical students, rural physicians work side by side

To help increase the number of physicians practicing in rural Arizona, every summer a select group of physicians in rural communities throughout the state has mentored medical students from the University of Arizona College of Medicine. The physicians volunteer as preceptors, or mentors, to UA medical students between the first and second years of medical school. The students work at the physicians' practice sites and reside in their communities. The physicians are rural faculty members in the UA College of Medicine's Rural Health Professions Program, established by the Arizona Legislature to encourage medical school graduates to practice medicine in rural communities.