4 weeks
Clerkship Director
Robin Maier, MD, MA
Assistant Professor
Department of Family Medicine
maierrm@upmc.edu
Course Description
The Family Medicine Clerkship is a 4-week rotation that encompasses the comprehensive and longitudinal care of patients with a special emphasis on care of individuals in the context of families and communities.
Course Objectives
- Diagnose and demonstrate basic understanding of common diseases and conditions of adults and children in the primary care setting.
- Obtain a sensitive and thorough medical history for patients in consideration of their age, gender, language and culture.
- Perform a sensitive and accurate physical examination tailored to the patient's acute, chronic and preventive medical needs.
- Produce clear written documentation of family medicine encounters.
- Deliver clear and appropriate oral presentations of family medicine encounters.
- Demonstrate sound clinical reasoning in a primary care setting.
- Develop knowledge, skills and attitudes to practice the basic principles of prevention, responsive to age, gender and chronic disease status.
- Describe therapeutic options and participate in the care of patients with common problems in a community setting.
- Develop the knowledge and exhibit the skills necessary to assist in the management of chronic diseases in a community setting.
- Demonstrate professional behaviors.
- Demonstrate commitment to life-long learning.
- Establish and maintain appropriate therapeutic relationships with patients in a community setting.
- Work effectively with others as a member of a primary care team.
- Explain the interface between primary care practice and health systems, including the related economic and health policy issues.
Students participate in patient care at offices and clinics throughout the region, including hospital-based sites and a variety of community-based locations.
Educational Methods
- Ambulatory and inpatient clinical experiences
- Lectures & Case-based workshops
- Continuity Cases
- Home visit and family and community reflection
- Clinical skills workshops
- Readings in Preparation for Final Exam
- fmCases: Online interactive case study
Evaluation
Evaluation in this course is based on evaluation of clinical performance by preceptors at community–based sites (65%), the Objective Structure Clinical Examination (OSCE) with standardized patients (15%), NBME web-based subject exam (15%), and written assignments (5%).
Grading: The clerkship is graded Honors, High Satisfactory, Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory.