The subject of the article is the study of the main characteristics of the medical activity of medical institutions in rural areas of the rear areas of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. The research is based on consolidated statistical materials of health authorities stored in the Russian State Archive of Economics (RGAE). Based on archival materials, the article analyzes the dynamics of quantitative indicators of the provision of medical care to rural residents by medical inpatient and outpatient polyclinic institutions. Based on the comparison of a number of indicators, the author examines in detail the changes in the effectiveness of therapeutic activities. Much attention is paid to the disclosure of the territorial features of medical care in individual Union republics. For the first time, the article presents summary indicators characterizing medical activity in rural areas for the entire war period on the scale of the Soviet Union and the rear Union republics. Based on the analysis, conclusions are made about the reduction in the number of patients admitted by healthcare institutions. At the same time, taking into account the reduction of the rural population, an increase in the relative indicators of providing the population with medical care has been proven. Based on the comparison of the duration of the patient's stay in a medical inpatient facility and mortality, the conclusion is made about the increase in the effectiveness of treatment of patients. The significant influence of evacuation and re-evacuation processes on rural medicine of the Central Asian republics has been established. The priority orientation of the Turkmen SSR and the republics of Transcaucasia to the service of the rural population by urban medical institutions is shown.