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It’s one thing to listen to medically vulnerable patients talk about their concerns over access to much-needed healthcare. It’s another to relate to them in a deeper way. That’s the goal of community medicine programs offered at medical schools nationwide.
At some innovative programs, students are given an up-close look at what life is like for the working poor or underserved either by touring a food desert, living in a poverty simulator for a week, and even learning how to cook when you have limited food options.
Putting yourself in a patient’s shoes is embedded in the philosophy of the Bedlam Clinic, a student-run free clinic supervised by trained physicians that’s a key part of the training students get at the OU School of Community Medicine (OUSCM) program in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In fact, when Ainsly Wolfinbarger, now a first-year pediatric resident, was in her third year at OUSCM and treated a patient with several conditions related to undiagnosed diabetes, she saw the power of community medicine firsthand.
“As I sat with him and helped him navigate the barriers to his treatment, he said ‘I can’t afford this,’” recalls Wolfinbarger who currently works at Saint Francis Children’s Hospital in Tulsa. “But here’s what makes our program so special: I could care for him clinically and also help him navigate the social services that were critical to his care. When I told him I could help, this gentleman broke down in tears and said it was the first time in a long time he felt hopeful.”
About Medscape Data
Medscape continually surveys physicians and other medical professionals about key practice challenges and current issues, creating high-impact analyses. For example, Medscape Medical Students Rate Clinical Instruction Report 2025 found that
- 81% of med students surveyed said they were very or somewhat satisfied with their school’s rotations, hospitals, classrooms, and community settings.
- 39% of med students surveyed said that clinical grades don’t reward real-world proficiency.
- Med students made note in the survey that they needed better partnerships with hospitals and other entities that engage with students.
While some estimates suggest that there are 35 community medicine degrees and courses in the US, a few are taking the lead.
At OUSCM, the first of its kind in the nation, the focus is on the community beyond the walls of the medical school. The program begins the summer before formal classes for the 20-plus students who enroll in this branch of the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in Oklahoma City. The program was founded in 2008 through a grant from the George Kaiser Family Foundation.
“For example, we do a low economic resource simulation in which students form family units and are given little monetary resources,” said Boyd Burns, DO, professor of emergency medicine and interim dean. “The goal is to show our students that there will be situations where our patients will have to decide ‘Do I buy this medication, or do I buy food.’ These are sobering realities that some of our students have never had to face or think about but our patients do.”
A Commitment to Serving Rural Patients
For the past 2 years at The Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus, Ohio, students have been invited to apply directly into a 4-year Community Medicine MD (CMT) track.
All 15 of the students accepted into this program are committed to serving rural communities or underserved populations, said Jennifer W. McCallister, MD, associate dean of medical education.
“Many of our students come from small or rural communities themselves but not all,” she said, adding that half of the students are from Ohio and the other half are from out of state. “Others feel a deep commitment to go back and serve their hometowns once they’re done with their training.”
And, while CMT students spend their first 2 years at Ohio State’s Columbus campus, it’s in year three that they continue their clinical work at St Rita’s Medical Center in Lima, Ohio, which has a higher poverty rate than the national and state averages, where they integrate with clinicians and faculty and learn firsthand about the issues facing the underserved.
“They also get to work with our community partners in Lima to identify the needs in the community and work with those partners to solve a particular problem, which could be accomplished by working with a local food bank, center for aging, or center for women’s health,” McCallister said. “This is a critical way our students interact with members of the community.”
A Mission-Driven Approach to Community Health
In 2004, community health became the fourth mission of the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York, along with education, clinical care, and research.
Here, medical students do a clerkship in their fourth year that focuses on clinical work as well as experiential training and partnering with community agencies.
“Our courses go beyond healthcare delivery,” said Theresa Green, PhD, MBA, director of community health education and policy at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Center for Community Health & Prevention. “We want to expand our students’ thinking to the social drivers of health. For example, how does living in poverty impact their health, and what does food insecurity look like in Rochester?”
One way this is brought to life immediately is via the collaborative relationship the University of Rochester Medical Center has with Foodlink, a local nonprofit, including sponsoring meals and volunteering to distribute food, especially in food deserts, throughout the city.
“The goal with our program is for our students to pair working on a community engaged project with learning about the financing of healthcare and policy/advocacy around healthcare,” Green said.
No matter if students sign up for a certain slate of courses or specialize in community medicine, focusing on the impact of income inequality and barriers to healthcare benefits all medical students, not just those who will end up serving the underserved, said OUSCM’s Burns.
“The sooner we can get medical students everywhere to think about improving delivery and being a nimble problem solver in our healthcare space, the better.”
Lambeth Hochwald is a New York City-based journalist who covers health, relationships, trends, and issues of importance to women. She’s also a longtime professor at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.
