PURCH: Population-based Urban & Rural Community Health
"The PURCH community challenges, nurtures, and inspires me."
—Emily Gang, Class of 2025
PURCH is Built With - And For - Our Communities
Be the Kind of Physician Our Communities Need
We orient your entire medical education experience around the characteristics community members told us they want in a physician— the 5 PURCH principles:
Excellent Diagnosticians who are Empathetic, Reflective, Team-Oriented, and Leaders Who Can Be Led.
Address Real Issues Impacting Urban and Rural Western Massachusetts
You will collaborate with the community across all four years, learning to apply population health principles to healthcare issues—and underlying social determinants of health—common to our urban and rural communities.
PURCH Fast Facts
Not Just For Medical Students Interested in Primary Care
Be Welcomed into a Community of Practice
Get the Clinical Experience You Want and Need
"As a PURCH student, I experienced tremendous professional growth from completing my core clerkships within the Baystate Health System, in the same communities that I learned about and partnered with during my preclinical years. I was often the only medical student on a care team, which afforded me excellent teaching and hands-on experience. Baystate Health’s culture is nurturing yet rigorous, and community focused yet academic- an excellent learning environment for learners with a broad range of interests".
-Maximilian Kinne, PURCH Class of 2025
Her 1st Choice - PURCH Graduate Kendall Burdick Matches at Boston Children's
Our graduates from the PURCH Track have been very successful in their residency matches—many telling us they matched to their top-ranked program.
Getting to Know Springfield / Western Massachusetts
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