To help bridge the gap between basic sciences and clinical medicine by providing a clinical training experience in primary care each summer for students who have completed the first or second year of medical school.

To give the student special insight into the "medical way of life" of a primary care physician in private rural practice.

Attempt to affect the maldistribution and shortage of primary care physicians in Arkansas by providing positive training experiences in diverse locations throughout the state. Preceptorships will generally be located in rural communities with a population of less than 15,000. Some larger communities in the Delta are exceptions to this rule.

To assist the student in grasping more fully the need to understand each patient within the context of the patient's relationship to family, job and total environment.

To depict for the student, by precept and example, the physician's place in society; social as well as civic responsibilities and obligations.

To provide a relaxed setting away from the formal curriculum during which time the student may develop some ideas concerning the values and goals of medical practice and his/her own future.

To demonstrate the community need for primary care physicians, a need that can is being met daily in a competent and confident manner consistent with the best traditions of quality medical care in a modern setting.