This is an exciting time for Family Medicine. Leaders in the U.S. are recognizing the value of primary care and we are excited to show you our discipline and teach you fundamental skills relevant to all disciplines of medicine! 
During our six week clerkship we will show you the breadth and depth of Family Medicine. If you are considering a career in Family Medicine, you can explore whether this will be a good fit for you and begin to develop the tools needed to be an excellent Family Physician. If you are interested in a different field of medicine, you will develop a wide range of clinical skills that will help you care for patients regardless of the setting. You will also learn how to effectively work with your Family Physician colleagues in the future.
The Nuts and Bolts of the Family Medicine Clerkship:
The Objectives: What you will learn (listed in more detail under Learning Objectives)
- Medical Knowledge: diagnosing and treating 20 common complaints, managing 10 common chronic conditions, integrating 8 prevention topics, learning about common outpatient procedures
- Patient Care and Communication Skills: refining interviewing skills, identifying common abnormal findings (esp MSK and derm), prioritizing differentials with commitment to treatment plans.
- Professionalism: working in teams, self assessments and guiding your own learning
- Practice Based Learning; Systems based Practice; Managing the Health of the Population: identifying and integrating evidence, learning about quality improvement and the PCMH
The Teaching Methods: How you will learn (listed in more detail under Educational Activities)
You will spend the majority of time with experienced carefully selected community physicians. What you learn there will be reinforced with didactic practical sessions we call "day backs" at the AHEC campus.
- Work with the physician: learn in a variety of practice settings, see about 6-8 patients a day, study time 1/2 day a week, keep clinical logs
- Work in "day backs": focus on clinical reasoning role plays and chronic illness presentations to reinforce learning.
- Study supplements: Essentials of Family Medicine Text, USPSTF, www.guidelines. gov, NMS and Pretest series, Practice Questions at www.familypractice.org, signing up for evidence based resources, sharing clinical pearls with each other. See more details under Resources.
The Evaluation: How you will be graded (listed in more detail under Requirement and Grading)
- Preceptor grade: 30% (mid-rotation evaluation not factored into final grade)
- Day Back Assignments: 35% (Clinical Reasoning Role Plays and Chronic Illness Presentation)
- Professionalism: 5% (assigned by campus director with input from community preceptor)
We have worked closely with other courses to integrate our material with that you will encounter during other clerkships. Certain outpatient topics will receive greater emphasis on our clerkship, others will be more heavily emphasized during the Outpatient Medicine clerkship or the outpatient portion of the Pediatrics clerkship. Certain important topics will be purposefully duplicated.
Most importantly enjoy and learn a lot!!!!!
