The Primary Care Track is a four-year MD program for students interested in primary care careers. Based at the Tuscaloosa Regional Medical Campus, the Primary Care Track provides students with a strong foundation in clinical medicine through longitudinal experiences with patients, lasting relationships with mentoring physicians, and special programming on population health and physician leadership skills.

The Primary Care Track offers:

• A longitudinal, integrated clerkship curriculum
• Low faculty-to-student ratios (often 1:1) and excellent clinical training in both in-house and community settings
• Preparation for careers in primary care fields
• Personal and professional development with a highly visible and accessible student support team

Why Primary Care?

Increasing the number of students who pursue a medical career in primary care is a key component to our mission and service in our state. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 62 of the Alabama’s 67 counties do not have enough primary care physicians to meet the needs of its population. We created the Primary Care Track to identify students who are interested in primary care careers and engage them throughout their medical education and stem the shortage of primary care physicians for Alabama.

About the Program

The Primary Care Track program prepares students for the primary care fields of family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics, and community-based specialties and sub-specialties including OB/GYN, neurology, psychiatry and general surgery.

Years 1 & 2
Students in the Primary Care Track spend their first two years in Birmingham with other MD track students completing the prerequisite basic science curriculum. During these two years, Primary Care Track students will forge mentoring relationships with primary care faculty within Learning Communities and in their Introduction to Clinical Medicine courses. Students will also have opportunities to explore their unique interests and goals through primary care electives and research experiences.

Between Years One and Two, a three-week “camp” in Tuscaloosa will further enhance clinical, population health and primary care learning and even better prepare our students to enter the clinical education years of medical school.

Year 3
Primary Care Track students spend their third year in a longitudinal integrated clerkship on the School of Medicine’s Tuscaloosa Regional Campus, based at the University of Alabama’s College of Community Health Sciences.

Year 4
Primary Care Track students will complete three required four-week rotations, along with 18 weeks of electives that may be completed at any of the four School of Medicine campuses or as an approved visiting rotation at another institution, along with a two-week residency preparation course.

Learn more about the Primary Care Track curriculum.

Application Process

Applications must be submitted through AMCAS.  Once the initial application has been processed, applicants will be asked about interest in the Primary Care Track on the secondary application.

Students applying for the Primary Care Track must:

• Meet all minimum requirements of the regular admission program
• Demonstrate an interest in and intent to practice primary care or other community based specialty

Selected students will interview with the UAB Heersink School of Medicine Admissions Committee.

Students not selected for the Primary Care Track will have their application considered for regular admission.