During their fourth year, medical students participate in a required rural preceptorship, spending four weeks in various Kansas communities to receive exposure to the practice of primary medical care in a non-urban setting and increase their awareness of professional opportunities in rural areas. The KU School of Medicine-Wichita campus was established by the Kansas Board of Regents in 1971, accredited in 1974, and graduated its first class of students in 1975. In February 1996, construction was completed on the 30,000 square foot Daniel K. Roberts Center for Research and the Kansas Health Foundation Center for Primary Care. Kan. They then choose to complete their education in the clinical program in Wichita. Instruction is offered in seven major disciplines, including family and community medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics-gynecology, preventive medicine and surgery.
Elective programs are available in anesthesiology, pathology and radiology.
There also are about 600 volunteer faculty members who donate their time to train future doctors. The medical school, in collaboration with Wichita State University and the KU School of Medicine-Kansas City, also offers instruction leading to a Master of Public Health degree. The program provides opportunities for health care providers and researchers to develop and apply individual and population-based approaches to improving the health of the public. It is the only program of its type in the region accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health. They offer 252 positions for training and are a key factor in the state's retention of medical school graduates.