Department Of Family Medicine

Goals

In order to teach the knowledge, skills and attitudes of Family Medicine, it is necessary to develop goals that emphasize the undifferentiated approach to health care. This is coupled with a concern for the entire person and the person's family. In order to accomplish these goals, the faculty is prepared to instruct the students in approaches to primary care problem solving which are different from the approach to traditional problem solving in the tertiary health care environment of university hospitals. Students at this stage of academic development usually do not have the background necessary to evaluate frequent undifferentiated health problems of patients and families in ambulatory and community settings. Instruction must, therefore, provide the students with a clinical problem solving approach to the care of the patient as a whole person within the context of the family, with emphasis on wellness and health promotion.

The diagnosis and management of problems are determined by the ability of the health care provider to elicit information from the patient. Therefore, specific emphasis is placed on the acquisition of effective communication skills which will ultimately enhance the delivery of health care. The appropriate manner of health care data collection and record keeping and its impact on the care of the patient is emphasized in all aspects of instruction. Special emphasis is also provided to the students to ensure an understanding of the basic goals of the care of the family as a unit.

The Family Medicine Clerkship provides the students with an understanding of the basics of providing continuous and comprehensive health care and its referral aspects. The students are also exposed to community-oriented skills and attitudes with impact upon the efficiency of health care delivery.

In order to meet these general goals, the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia has developed performance goals for students in the Family Medicine Clerkship. The clerkship will enhance the student's understanding of the following:

1. Perception of attitudes toward the role of a physician.

2. Perception of and attitudes toward Family Medicine.

3. Establishment of effective patient/physician relationships.

4. Gathering and recording patient information.

5. Development of appropriate clinical judgement.

6. Planning, implementing and evaluation therapy.

7. Perception of health maintenance, disease prevention and continuous health care.

A comprehensive description of these goals follows in the next section.

Dept. of Family Medicine | Medical College of Georgia

Please email comments, suggestions or questions to:
Libby Poteet, lpoteet@mcg.edu