Read at least one long-form account of the Flint water crisis — the documentary "Flint: The Poisoning of an American City" or Anna Clark's "The Poisoned City" are accessible.

Know the health effects of childhood lead exposure: IQ reduction, behavioral changes, kidney damage, cardiovascular effects in adults. These are clinically relevant.

Understand why Flint is an environmental justice case: the city is majority-Black and had been under state financial emergency management when the decision to switch water sources was made.

Detroit's infant mortality rate, cardiovascular mortality, and diabetes rates are among the worst in the US. Know that these reflect decades of economic disinvestment, industrial pollution, and healthcare system collapse.

Know the Detroit Health Department's initiatives and Detroit's community health worker programs — models of how cities try to close health gaps.

Practice discussing the relationship between economic decline (auto industry collapse) and health outcomes — the causal chain is direct and U-M stations probe it.

Michigan's Upper Peninsula is geographically enormous and sparsely populated, with few physicians. Know what "physician desert" means practically — 60-minute drives to primary care, emergency services gaps.

Know how telemedicine has changed rural care access in Michigan and what its limitations are (broadband access, hands-on exam limits).

Practice a framework for ethical decision-making when standard-of-care resources aren't available — this is the daily reality of rural Michigan medicine.

"Since 2011 I've sat on MMI panels across Canada, the USA, and the UK — scoring thousands of candidates across medicine, dentistry, PA, and nursing. Universal MMI is built on everything I've learned sitting on the other side of that table."

Traditional MMI with 9 stations of 8 minutes. Stations include environmental health ethics, rural access scenarios, community trust cases, healthcare policy, and personal motivation.

Yes — it remains highly relevant because its health effects are ongoing, Flint residents continue to experience medical mistrust, and it is a canonical case of environmental injustice that U-M explicitly uses in its curriculum.

Median GPA around 3.77, median MCAT around 517. U-M is competitive nationally and considers Michigan residents favorably.

As a public institution, U-M gives preference to Michigan residents in admissions, though it accepts a significant number of out-of-state students.

Michigan's Medicaid expansion under the ACA, passed in 2013 as one of the first Republican-led state expansions. It covered over 800,000 residents and is studied as a policy success, though coverage gaps remain.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are industrial chemicals that have contaminated groundwater in over 100 Michigan communities. They cause thyroid dysfunction, kidney disease, and cancer — and are an ongoing environmental health emergency.

Yes — the Rural Health Scholars Program at U-M places students in rural Michigan for clinical rotations. Students who complete it are more likely to practice in rural settings after residency.

Acknowledge the legitimacy of their mistrust rather than dismissing it. Name the specific institutional failures that created it. Focus on building relationship through consistency, transparency, and respecting their autonomy in each decision.