Office of Rural Medical Education

Vision
Advance rural health care throughout Kansas by addressing issues of health education, workforce and access to care.

Mission
The Office of Rural Medical Education at KUMC was established to enrich medical education by fostering education experiences in rural settings for students throughout their curriculum.  Through these activities it is hoped that students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the opportunity to practice rewarding, high quality health care for rural Kansans. 

The Office of Rural Medical Education (ORME) became a division of the Office of Medical Education in January 2007. Michael Kennedy, MD was appointed as the Director of ORME in his role as the McCann Professor of Rural Health and the Assistant Dean for Rural Health Education in July 2005. Debra Lea, Senior Outreach Coordinator, joined ORME in January 2007 and is directly responsible for the KC Campus medical student education activities in rural settings across the state of Kansas.

The Office of Rural Medical Education collaborates with the other rural and outreach programs at KUMC. There are many programs at KUMC that address the various medical education needs for rural Kansas. Specifically, ORME is designed to target the interests of students during their 4 years of medical school. ORME collaborates closely with the Admissions Office and with the Office of Rural Health Education and Services to bridge across the spectrum from pre-med programs through programs for the practicing physician.

Michael Kennedy, MD
Director of the Offfice of Rural Medical Education

Debra Lea
Senior Outreach Coordinator
dlea@kumc.edu
913.588.8221