Kara Oprian Fess, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor
Director, Rural Medical Education Program
Department of Family and Community Medicine
Contact
Building & Room:
UIC Health Sciences Campus-Rockford
Address:
1601 Parkview Ave., Rockford, IL 61107
Office Phone:
Email:
About
The University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford named Kara Oprian Fess, MD, Director of the Rural Medical Education (RMED) Program in 2020. She is also a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine.
RMED is an internationally recognized rural medical education program that seeks to recruit, admit and educate medical students, who will, upon completion of residency training, practice medicine in a rural location. RMED is a supplement to the regular medical school curriculum offered by the College of Medicine Rockford.
Dr. Fess is a 1999 graduate of the RMED Program herself. After medical school, she completed a residency in family medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and then came back to practice family medicine in Peru, Ill. Most recently she was medical director of The Hygienic Institute Community Health Center in LaSalle, Ill.
As the program director, Dr. Fess works with health care professionals from around the state to provide rural health care experiences for medical students so they better understand the unique needs in these often underserved areas.
Education
Undergraduate Degree: Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, BA 1994
Medical Degree: University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford, Rockford, IL, MD 1999
Residency: University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, Family Medicine Residency 2002