A combined family and community medicine clerkship

In 1973, the Eastern Virginia Medical School was established with a goal of producing primary care physicians. As part of this goal, a family practice clerkship experience was required for each medical student. An office based clerkship was developed with students spending five half-days a week in a volunteer family physician's office. To expand the clerkship so that students had contacts and experiences with community resources, several additional experiences were added in community medicine areas: a twice-a-week seminar series, public health agency visits, and an emergency room experience. After four years, using data from faculty and students, student evaluations, and the residency choices of graduates, the clerkship has met most of its objectives. This program shows that a community based educational program with volunteer faculty and few full-time faculty can be office based and still ensure similar experiences and learning through a community medicine focus and weekly seminar sessions.