LIC Info: UCAM

UCAM: Urban Community Ambulatory Medicine (UCAM) clerkship is traditionally a 12-week continuous experience for Clinical Immersion. UCAM-CI (Clinical Immersion) satisfies the required family medicine clerkship, an acting internship, the primary care outpatient selective, and an additional hands-on elective in Family Medicine. A NEWLY IMPLEMENTED 8-week experience has been introduced for the Sub-Specialty Transition phase - UCAM-SST. This has been designed for those who have recently decided to focus on primary care and/or have completed another LIC!

All 8-12 weeks will be spent at the same Family Medicine Clinic in an urban setting serving a underserved patient populations that predominantly include lower income patients from diverse backgrounds. 

Important Dates

• Information Session(s):

TC: Tuesday, 5/27/2025 @ 12:15 pm  (PWB 3-150/152 - TBD)

Duluth: Tuesday, 6/3/2025 @ 12:15 pm @ SMed 68

• Applications due: Thursday, September 25, @ 11:59 PM 

UCAM is an alternative-LIC, structured around clinical lanes. To best align with the medical school's process of enrollment, we intentionally wait to meet with UCAM applicants after all LIC acceptances. UCAM interviews students to discuss the application as well as lane and site preferences.

• Interviews: October 16-28, 2025
• Notification of Acceptance: October 29, 2025
• UCAM Lane preferences submitted to the Medical School: October 30, 2025

UCAM-CI is not a traditional LIC. The course is structured around the Clinical Lane Schedule for MS3s - during Clinical Immersion, and will be run in the Fall.  UCAM-CI and SST provide you with an extended clinical experience in Family Medicine compared to the traditional lane structure. The course requires a minimum capacity of three students, and a maximum of six students for each block.

UCAM-CI Fall:  F2 - F4 9/28-12/20/2026 [TC Lane 7, HYB Lane 1, Duluth lanes 7 and 8] - Clinical Immersion Class of 2028 (3-6 students)

UCAM-SST Spring/Summer:  SP3 - SP4 2026/ S1-S2 2026 - Specialty Specific Transitions Class of 2027 (quorum of 3 students)

A Family Medicine Course Coordinator will work with the Medical School to ensure students participating in UCAM are placed in the appropriate clinical lane to support their UCAM rotation.

*Please be aware: UCAM-CI does NOT satisfy any required block/lane clerkships outside of FMCH 7600 and INMD 7805. If your lane has other required clerkships during UCAM-CI, your academic advisor will work with you to reschedule those courses for an appropriate and available period during a later timeframe (typically in the Specialty Specific Transitions phase of your training).

Throughout the 8-12-weeks, UCAM students will work through and participate in a series of presentations, conversations, and projects surrounding the topics of:

• Advocacy
• Clinical Care
• Community Engagement/Population Health
• Culture
• Underserved Populations

Lastly, inter-professional education knowledge and skills are taught through simulation, case presentations during conferences, and attending lectures.

Locations may include:

• Bethesda Family Medicine Clinic, St. Paul, MN
• Broadway Family Medicine Clinic, Minneapolis, MN
• Community-University Health Care Center (CUHCC), Minneapolis, MN
• Duluth Family Medicine Residency - Duluth, MN 
• Minnesota Community Care Links to an external site., St. Paul, MN
• Smiley’s Family Medicine Clinic, Minneapolis, MN 
• United Family Medicine Residency Program Links to an external site., St. Paul, MN
  
  

Previous Students' Feedback

“... UCAM was the perfect length of time not only because I got to experience continuity of care with patients, but also because l was able to form great teaching-learning relationships with attendings and residents.” Arman Shahriar (UCAM 2020)

“UCAM was one of my favorite parts of medical school. I was able to develop a little continuity with my patients by being at the same clinic for an extended amount of time which definitely enriched my appreciation for family medicine. I learned valuable lessons about how medicine is practiced in the “real world” from my UCAM faculty such as programs to assist patients outside of traditional clinic-based medicine and barriers potentially faced by different groups of patients. Although my current clinic population in rural Minnesota varies greatly from the population I worked with in St. Paul, I still apply what I learned daily. If I had to do medical school again, I would choose the UCAM program in a heartbeat.” - Dr. Katie Hinderaker, Mayo Clinic Health System, Lake City, MN (UCAM 2015)

“The UCAM program truly taught me the meaning of community. By having a longitudinal rotation at an urban primary care clinic, I was able to have a more immersive experience with a diverse patient population and achieve more continuity of care. Additionally, the didactics with fellow students and our preceptors helped me critically think more about the socioeconomic and cultural factors that affect healthcare. The program helped inspire me to pursue a career in primary care as well as continue with medically focused volunteering and teaching opportunities to help work towards the goal of providing culturally competent care to the community.” - Dr. Thuy Nguyen Tran, Alina Health, Savage, MN (UCAM 2014)

“UCAM changed the course of my medical education. I was looking for a longitudinal clinical experience that would highlight the ongoing relationships between patients and primary care providers, which was something I found to be missing from my other clinical rotations. I was matched at United Family Medicine (UFM) and had an incredibly immersive and captivating experience with the faculty and staff of that clinic. I eventually matched into UFM for residency and could not imagine my medical career going any other way. As a direct result of my experience in UCAM and residency, I was able to continue to work in an underserved setting in my first position as a staff physician.” - Peter Meyers, MD, MPH, Minnesota Community Care, MN (UCAM 2013)