Sometimes getting out of the classroom is the best way to learn. That’s why in May 2026, students from the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine joined a rural and Tribal engagement outreach tour serving youth in southeastern Utah and the Navajo Nation.
The tour was jointly led by the Office of Academic Culture and Community (OACC), the Center for Native Excellence and Tribal Engagement and the Southern Utah Regional Medical Campus. It included visits to White Mesa, Whitehorse High School and Monument Valley High School, where more than 200 local youths attended workshops about health, medicine and early college exploration.
The experience brought together medical students, physician assistant students, staff and campus partners with a shared goal: to help young people see college and careers in health and medicine as possible, meaningful and connected to the needs of their communities.
Throughout the tour, medical and PA students led interactive, hands-on workshops that introduced students to clinical skills and real-world medical practice. Activities included suturing demonstrations, a “find the fracture” activity and ultrasound demonstrations. These workshops gave students a chance to engage directly with medical tools, ask questions and learn about pathways into health professions.
For Seth Wayne, PA-S2, the outreach experience was especially meaningful because of his connection to the Navajo Nation and his commitment to seeing students enter health professions.
“As a student from the Navajo Nation, it meant a lot to me to participate on this outreach trip,” Wayne says. “Being there to share my story and to give the students a taste of what it’s like to work in medicine was one of the highlights of my spring semester. We need more Navajo students going into the health professions and college as a whole. Having homegrown, culturally competent health care providers, whether that’s physicians or PAs or nurses or therapists, working in IHS and tribal health systems will elevate the Navajo Nation. Trips like this are so crucial to making that happen.”
The outreach tour offered an early point of connection to higher education and health care careers. The hands-on format helped make medicine feel more accessible, and conversations with U students and staff highlighted the many educational pathways to careers serving rural and Tribal communities.
For medical and PA students, the tour is an opportunity to both teach and listen. It also builds relationships and helps them understand the communities they hope to serve.
“This work is about helping future physicians understand the strengths, needs and lived experiences of the communities they may one day serve,” says Donna Eldridge, MSW, and OACC director. “These experiences remind students that medicine is rooted in relationship, trust and service.”
Wade Quilter, MS2, said the experience reminded him of the importance of outreach and the lasting impact that a single interaction can have on someone’s future.
“It was pretty cool to represent the University of Utah and play an active part in its mission to improve health care access in rural and underserved areas,” Quilter says. “On our visit, there were a handful of students who expressed interest in becoming nurses, EMTs and other health care professionals. Spending time with those students and hearing about their goals got me excited for their futures.”
“A physician visited my high school when I was a student,” he continues. “That interaction was one of the first sparks that ultimately led me toward medicine. It is exciting to think that maybe one of the students we met experienced a similar spark. The students we met have tremendous potential. I am grateful for the opportunity to encourage them while learning more about the beautiful communities and landscapes of the Navajo Nation.”
The Southern Utah Regional Medical Campus (SURMC) adds another important layer to this work by connecting rural medical education with outreach efforts in the region. Its focus on training future physicians to serve rural Utah aligns closely with the goals of the outreach tour. Michelle Hofmann, M.D., leads rural, underserved and regional medical education efforts at the medical school, which includes SURMC.
“The campus will provide an immersive clinical training experience in southwest Utah for medical students dedicating themselves to future careers in rural medicine,’ says Hofmann. “Its proximity to Tribal-operated health facilities and programs presents exciting opportunities to continue building partnerships that prepare future physicians to meet the unique cultural and medical needs of Native patients and communities.”
The SURMC and experiences like the outreach tour reflect the U’s broader commitment to rural health, Tribal engagement and relationship-based outreach. By returning to communities year after year, the team continues to build trust, strengthen partnerships and support students who may one day become physicians, nurses, public health leaders, educators, researchers and advocates for their communities.