Student Programs

We’re working to deliver a better experience on our Student Programs pages, where you’ll learn more about why Gundersen is one of the nation's premier regional academic health centers training the next generation of healthcare professionals. Until then, please email us at [email protected] with any questions.

Thank you for choosing Gundersen Health System as your desired clinical site placement!

Gundersen Health System is one of the largest health systems in the United States. For more than five generations, it has been providing primary care and specialty care to over half a million residents of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Northern Illinois. Gundersen is a complete medical center with more than 400 staff physicians, each of whom have been carefully selected for their clinical expertise as well as commitment to teaching. All patient care providers are expected to contribute to teaching at GHS. Indeed, each staff member joins our multispecialty group only if they understand that a requirement is their willingness to support a very aggressive education program through their teaching.

The educational culture that is present at Gundersen Health System offers an exceptional opportunity for learning. The hospital and clinics serve as clinical training sites for medical, pharmacy, nursing and other allied health professional students and residents. We view teaching as a responsibility; the responsibility to teach and learn best patient care practices, to teach and learn best patient care experiences, and to teach and learn professionalism. We take pride in educating students looking for careers in the health care field. We recognize teaching as an opportunity to influence the next generation of practitioners and to constantly improve the quality of patient care.

Our tertiary care medical center is in La Crosse, Wis., with numerous affiliates throughout a regional radius of about 150 miles. Gundersen is the western clinical campus for the University of Wisconsin College of Medicine.

Gundersen Health System offers a diversity of options and practice settings for student clerkships. Each of our clerkships includes providing direct patient care and active involvement as part of the patients' health care team.

Gundersen Health System receives a high volume of clinical placement requests each academic semester, and clinical placement decisions are based on multiple criteria. It is recommended that applicants pursue alternate placement opportunities in the event Gundersen Health System cannot accommodate. Completion of an application does not guarantee clinical placement for any students.

Our programs

• Medical students
• Physician Assistant students
• Pharmacy students
• Undergraduate Allied Health students
• Undergraduate and Graduate nursing students
• Job shadows and observations
• Behavioral health students: contact Chelsey Dehning, [email protected]
• Volunteer services experience: contact Donna Niedfeldt, [email protected]
• Approved Rotation: use the Student/Rotating Resident registration