A profile of required third-year family medicine clerkships

A survey was conducted of programs which reported requiring a third-year clerkship in family medicine in the 1988-89 AAMC Curriculum Directory to determine the characteristics of these 36 programs. The program characteristics were compared to those outlined by the STFM Task Force on Predoctoral Education in the 1981 monograph, Predoctoral Education in Family Medicine. Only one third of schools nationwide had a required family medicine clerkship; for 36 schools it was scheduled in the third year. Based on the information provided by the 25 (72%) of these 36 programs which responded, the third-year clerkship was likely to be a stand-alone, decentralized six- or eight-week rotation. The curricula were based on a set of "common problems" and emphasized those areas which separate family practice from other specialties. Students were most likely to be graded by faculty rating and a multiple choice examination. The curricula of the programs reviewed did reflect the recommendations of the Task Force, but there was great variability across programs.