Glocalizing medical education through community clinical experiences: a model for socially accountable preclinical,...

Calls for "glocalization" in health professions education reflect growing expectations that global educational standards are meaningfully aligned with local priorities, in keeping with social accountability principles and shared values of relevance, equity, quality and cost-effectiveness. At the same time, increasing attention to the role of social determinants in shaping health outcomes challenges medical institutions to prepare practice-ready physicians who are culturally responsive and well-equipped to deliver holistic, patient-centered care. Scalable models that translate these priorities into structured, practice-oriented learning experiences remain limited within medical education, which is often constrained by traditional curricular structures, limited faculty capacity, and insufficient alignment between educational objectives and community realities. We describe a curricular service-learning model at Ross University School of Medicine that uses structured Community Clinical Experiences (CCEs) to connect globally relevant competency-based medical education with the health and social needs of the local community. We present core components of this model, including early, spiraled, clinical immersion, structured student reflection, and diverse social exposure, highlight their grounding in authentic community-academic partnerships, and outline key implementation strategies that support its adaptation and transfer across varied contexts. In so doing, we offer a potentially adaptable, scalable and sustainable approach for glocalized educational reform that is grounded in shared values while remaining relevant to different populations and health systems.