The Family Medicine Clerkship (FMC) consists of four separate components:
- A community preceptorship
- Patient Management rounds (PMRs)
- Interactive seminars
- An objective structured clinical examination (OSCE)
The FMC is a required, third year rotation for all OHSU medical students. It is not available to students from other institution.
 Community Preceptorship:
Students spend approximately 65% of their time on the rotation working in a family physician's office. This may also include hospital, nursing home and home visits depending on the individual practice. Some students may work with only one preceptor for the entire rotation, while other students will have a primary preceptor, but also spend time working with partners or associates of the primary preceptor.
Students are expected to have first contact with the patients, to perform appropriate histories and examinations and to develop an assessment and management plan for the patient. Preceptors are expected to observe the students as they perform some histories and exams, while later allowing the students to have first contact with the patient. In addition, students may assist or perform various office based procedures.
Patient Management Rounds: Weekly small group discussions are scheduled to give students an opportunity to research a common family practice problem they have encountered in their preceptor's practice. The sessions focus on problem solving and decision making skills, and each student leads a 15 minute discussion period each week. The sessions are facilitated by family medicine faculty.
Didactic Interactive Seminars:
One half day per week is spent at the OHSU Department of Family Medicine involved in seminars and workshops. A core set of seminars are presented to students by Department of Family Medicine faculty which cover a broad range of medical, social and practice related issues of importance to Family Medicine. They are interactive sessions, where the students are involved in case discussions, role plays and questioning.
Objective Structured Clinical Examination
The OSCE takes place one-third of the way through the clerkship. Using standardized patients and clinical scenarios, students perform histories, exams, and provide patient education in a situation where they receive immediate feedback both from trained observers and fellow students. The OSCE is for student feedback as well as evaluation, and its placement in the second week allows students a chance to learn from the feedback they receive.
For more information regarding elective opportunities in the Department of Family Medicine please contact:
Jessica Brown, Clerkship Coordinator
Department of Family Medicine - FM
OHSU School of Medicine
3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road
Portland, OR 97239
Phone: (503) 494-5715
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