Course Activities

Students will be required to complete the following assignments:

1)     Ambulatory Patient Care in a Community Setting:

• Submission to the community faculty at least four clinic notes per half-day session.  The student should expect feedback on some, but not all, of these notes

• Discuss challenges and rewards of practicing in the selected community.

•  List the 10 most frequently encountered medical problems in selected clinical practice population and describe the increase in clinical competency you have achieved in this course. Submit the ‘Clinical Competency’ form.  Due week 4 of the course.

2)     Interdisciplinary:

• In the selected clinical practice population, observe, and compare these roles:

  • Community physician

    • Discuss with them a healthcare system or practice management issue

  • Advanced practice providers, i.e., nurse practitioners and physician assistants,

  • Practice manager /business office manager.

    • Discuss with them practice management issues

  • At least one other non-physician discipline in patient care. 

• Discuss with the community faculty complementary and alternative health professionals’ roles in the community and how they relate to the selected clinical practice population.

• Discuss advantages/ disadvantages of interdisciplinary team practices.

• Observe for ½ day Area Health Education Center (AHEC) staff and identify AHEC roles in the community. 

3)     Public Health Services:

• Review a list of standard/typical public health services and the local contact for these services. Identify the local chief public health official and medical examiner. Review the 10 essential elements of public health.  

• Identify public health surveillance needs for the selected clinical practice population.

• Discuss the other health professionals’ or community physician’s optimal responses to public health risks as relate to this clinical practice.

• Discuss with other health professionals or community physicians “Homeland Security” issues as related to the selected clinical practice population.

• Complete the ‘Community Public Health’ form for your patients. Due week 3 of the course.

• Explore with community faculty and/or a public health authority(ies), such as a public health professional, the local public heath officer, or medical examiner, special public health issues for the selected clinical practice population.

4)     Service Learning/Advocacy Experience:

• Discuss with the community faculty the potential advocacy role for a physician and for other disciplines.

• Identify the essential elements of service learning.

• Spend at least 2 half-days per week at a community health or public health or health-related organization. Reflect on the experience and list at least three concepts or skills you learned.

• Develop a service learning project. This project must be approved by the course director.  Complete the ‘Service Learning Project’ form.  Due Week 1 of the course.

• Submit a product or description of the service learning project.  Due Week 4 of the course.

Note: We may publish completed products on the course website