About

About TRU-OK Pathways

Primary care physician shortage in the United States is especially problematic in tribal, rural, and underserved communities. Resourcing innovative medical school programs designed to recruit, prepare, and encourage medical students to choose residencies and careers in primary care is a key “upstream” strategy.

In 2019, the University of Oklahoma received a federally-funded 4-year grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA #T99HP33558) to “pipeline” medical students including those from Tribal, Rural, and medically Underserved communities in Oklahoma (TRU-OK) to primary care careers.

The TRU-OK project has three main goals:

Goal 1:

Recruitment, Admission, and Retention of TRU-OK Medical Students

• Lifestyle Medicine & Health Promotion elementary outreach cooking program
• Cross-campus RevUp! Program focused on medical school readiness
• Mobile Outreach Vehicle purchased to expand outreach to TRU-OK communities

Goal 2:

Innovative Medical Student Education Experiences

• Simulation Center Enterprise expansion at SCM/COM
• Telemedicine Training Program developed & implemented
• Tribal Health Selective clinical developed & approved 
• Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship developed & expanded to include OBGYN and Surgery
• 3-year MD pathway developed for Tulsa SCM pilot

Goal 3:

Pathways Network & Professional Development

• Pathways Community Collaborative to guide the development of a Primary Care Preceptor Network (PCPN)
• Infrastructure and tracking database for the PCPN 

This online Resource Center was created and is being maintained through a rigorous asset curation process to support primary care preceptors in Oklahoma with a searchable repository of knowledge and skill-building resources. 

If you wish to provide feedback to our team or have questions about the Resource Center, please contact Zsolt Nagykaldi via phone: (405) 271-2370 or e-mail: Zsolt-Nagykaldi@ouhsc.edu.