Student Requirements

  • Complete the Curriculum: Canvas web modules
    • Learn about the issues surrounding healthcare for people who are underserved.
    • Who Are the Underserved? is required and is a prerequisite for the other modules.
    • Complete a minimum of 10 web modules.
    • Live modules (events) are offered two to three times per year, and attendance at these modules — in real time — counts toward the ten required modules. Watching the recording after the event does not count toward the 10 required modules. Thank you!
  • Maintain a Mentorship Relationship: longitudinal mentorship with an Underserved Pathway mentor
    • Your mentor is a physician or other healthcare professional — click here or the link above for mentor criteria.
    • Required: One meeting per quarter or a minimum of four meetings per year until you graduate.
    • Meetings can occur via in-person, phone, web-based video conferencing, or email.
  • Complete an Underserved-Focus Scholarly Project
    • III projects completed during RUOP, GHIP and Medical Student Addiction Research Training Program (MedStAR) automatically qualify (no pre-approval by the UP Team needed)
    • If you are not doing RUOP, GHIP, or MedStAR, your scholarly project for UP requires pre-approval by the UP team as well as final approval once the poster/paper/project is complete. Please contact upath@uw.edu as soon as possible to discuss how you will satisfy this requirement. See relevant deadlines here.
    • E-19 and E-20 students: this requirement was waived for you. If you completed an underserved-focus scholarly project anyway, your UP graduation certificate will include “with scholarship.”
    • If your III requirement was waived by UWSOM, you may still need to complete a scholarly project for the Underserved Pathway. Please contact upath@uw.edu to ask!
  • Complete pre-clinical/Foundations Phase clinical experience in underserved settings
    • Complete RUOP, GHIP, Primary Care Practicum (PCP), or a preclinical preceptorship in an underserved setting.
    • If you plan to fulfill this requirement with your PCP, be sure to tell your PCP coordinator that you’d like to be placed in an underserved and/or rural setting to fulfill your Underserved Pathway requirement.
    • We know you don’t have ultimate control over where you have these school experiences. If you are not able to complete one of the above, then please complete an additional two weeks (four credits) of clinical clerkship in an underserved setting (in addition to clinical courses below).
  • Expand your knowledge with non-clinical coursework: selectives and/or intersessions
    • Two credits focusing on underserved populations or issues.
    • We recommend completing these credits during your 2nd or 3rd quarters of MS1 year.
  • Get hands-on experience in clinical courses: clerkships in Patient Care and Explore and Focus Phases
    • 12 credits (or six weeks) of clinical courses in underserved setting or serving vulnerable population(s).
    • All WRITE rotations count for Pathway credit.
  • Health-related community service, advocacy, and engagement
    • 24 hours completed in an underserved setting.
    • Must be related to health or health equity.

Current students in the Underserved Pathway are responsible for tracking their progress through the requirements on the UP Tracker page.

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Contact the Program Manager of the Underserved Pathway at upath@uw.edu for help!