Undergraduate teaching in primary medical care

There is considerable variation between medical schools both in the timing of undergraduate teaching of general practice and in the methods of teaching. In 1976, the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Melbourne determined that the period of exposure of students to teaching primary medical care would be two weeks in the fourth year, and an optional eight weeks in the sixth year. This paper describes the fourth year teaching programme and its assessment by the students. Essentially, it consists of a two week course of clinical general practice in which an attempt is made to integrate the knowledge and experience gained from both hospital and community medicine.