Developing service-based teaching in health education for medical students

In the expanding concern about the social-behavioral aspects of health care in medical education, health education has opportunities for making itself an important part of basic medical training. The need is to actually define a physician's appropriate educational tasks and competencies as a basis for curriculum development in health education which would ideally be integrated into the whole educational program. This case study presents efforts to develop an educational service component at a rural health center which, connected to a major teaching hospital, serves as a learning base for medical students. Through trial and student feedback a program has been developed which includes patient counseling, evaluative home visits, group education sessions, exit interviews, medication counseling, community needs assessment and educational consultation with local school teachers. With this program as a foundation, the goal is to integrate health education learning throughout the rest of the medical curriculum.