Assistant Dean and Director: Professor Duong

Terre Haute provides medical services for a population of more than 250,000 residents of the Wabash Valley, between west central Indiana and east central Illinois. Established in 1971, the mission of the Indiana University School of Medicine—Terre Haute (IUSM—Terre Haute) is to advance health, education, and research in the Wabash Valley, the state of Indiana, and beyond.

IUSM—Terre Haute full-time, part-time, and volunteer clinical faculty are strongly dedicated to excellence in teaching, research, and service. They provide a medical school curriculum with maximum clinical exposure. Basic science courses in the first year are taught with the participation of physicians and continuous clinical correlations, using innovative teaching methods and current information technology. For better clinical relevance, the Introduction to Medicine and the Pathology courses in the second year are taught by practicing physicians, and so is the Pharmacology course, which is taught by a practicing pharmacist/pharmacologist. From the beginning of the first year, a weekly one-on-one preceptorship program with community physicians emphasizes exposure to patients in the clinical setting. The students have the ability to choose the specialty of the preceptor. In the fall semester of the second year, the medical students rotate through hospitals, shadowing community physicians, hospitalists or resident physicians of the Union Hospital Family Medicine residency program. In the spring semester of the second year, medical students learn and further develop history-taking and physical examination skills with physician preceptors in a clinical setting. Funded internships for summer experiences in rural or hospital-based medicine are available. Medical service learning is encouraged with a student-led Community Health Fair and participation in free clinics or medical missions. IUSM—Terre Haute faculty also welcomes medical students’ interest and involvement in biomedical research. IUSM—Terre Haute medical students have many opportunities for broad and varied educational experiences through faculty and community offerings, including Enrichment Hours, where various aspects of health care delivery are presented by health professionals, continuing medical education and pathology conferences for physicians at Union Hospital and Regional Hospital, and the Mini-Medical School outreach program for the general public.

In fall 2008, to meet the health care needs of people in rural and medically underserved areas, IUSM—Terre Haute initiated a rural medical education program. This four-year medical school program is based in the Wabash valley and centers on the following action items:

• Recruit Hoosiers from underserved areas and populations
• Teach science from the perspective of clinical medicine during the basic science years
• Teach medicine from the perspective of rural health during the clinical years
• Develop twenty-first century tools for the rural physician
• Promote research in community health

The goals of the program are to promote appreciation, understanding, and respect for the rural practitioner and the rural patient; to equip medical students with skills and experiences unique to rural medicine; to provide longitudinal exposure and experiences with health care delivery in a rural setting; to prepare medical graduates who are ready for interactions with rural doctors and who have a competitive advantage for future graduate medical education training in the practice of rural medicine; and to increase the number of IUSM graduates who elect to enter medical practice in a rural setting.

For admission to this program, please contact Mr. Jonathon O’Neal, Assistant Director of Admissions in charge of the Rural Medical Education program (317-274-3772; jponeal@iupui.edu).

Scholarships available

A number of scholarships such as the Kunkler scholarship, the McBride scholarship, the Nay scholarship and the Stanley scholarship are eligible for medical students attending IUSM—Terre Haute.

In 2010, the Smith scholarship was created for medical students on the rural track. Inquiries should be directed to Dr. Duong or to Mr. Jose Espada (jespada@iupui.edu).

Location and facilities

IUSM—Terre Haute is located in Holmstedt Hall on the campus of Indiana State University and at the Landsbaum Center for Health Education, adjacent to Union Hospital. The medical students have 24-hour access to the facilities including a 150-seat auditorium, four large classrooms, anatomy laboratory with showers and personal lockers, conference rooms, study rooms with computers and personal lockers, and lounges with kitchens. The medical students have special graduate student status and are granted access to all academic, athletic, entertainment, and recreational facilities available to students at Indiana State University.

Nestled on the banks of the Wabash River, Terre Haute is located in west central Indiana and has a population of 60,000. A bicycle trail winds its way through the north side of the city, next to wooded parks and lakes. Deming Park and Dobbs Park, located on the east side, provide scenic places to study. City and county parks provide opportunities for fishing, boating, and water (or cross-country) skiing. Half a dozen golf courses are spread throughout the city, including Hulman Links, a PGA championship-level golf course. Extensive outside recreation can also be found within a 30-mile radius at the surrounding major state parks: Shakamak, Turkey Run, Raccoon Lake, and McCormick’s Creek.

For further information on IUSM—Terre Haute, point your browser to: http://terrehaute.medicine.iu.edu/ or contact Dr. Duong, Assistant Dean and Director, (812) 237-2777 or tduong@iupui.edu.

We welcome visits from prospective students. Contact Beth Nesius (812) 237-2777 or beth.nesius@indstate.edu.