A description of the development of a new surgery clerkship looks at institutional background (University of Kentucky College of Medicine) for the project, preliminary evaluation and planning efforts, formulation of an ideal for the clerkship, barriers to change, overcoming resistance to change, and comparisons with problem-based learning programs…

Strategies used at several medical schools to address common issues in ambulatory care clerkship programs are presented. These include institutional and policy concerns (institutional resistance, financing, faculty incentives), administrative and implementation problems (logistics, faculty recruitment, student recruitment/placement), and…

The Medical College of Georgia's third-year medicine clerkship includes a one-month ambulatory care block rotation in internal medicine, medicine, and dermatology. Students present topics and participate in case discussions in daily and weekly conferences. Program success is resulting in expansion. (MSE)

The ambulatory care segment of the Southern Illinois University internal medicine clerkship provides extensive clinical exposure in a variety of settings and includes formal educational activities in seminars and workshops. Despite problems, educational quality has improved. Planned expansion includes a longitudinal experience for students.…

The University of Manitoba (Canada) medical school is introducing teaching in the ambulatory care setting as traditional inpatient wards become less suitable for clerkships. However, few faculty are willing to accommodate students in their clinics, and other educational and administrative difficulties impede program expansion. (MSE)

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School administered identical, simultaneous objective structured clinical examinations to large medical school classes and found the method logistically and psychometrically feasible. Potential for use of the test to make pass-fail grading decisions and proposals for modification of administration and…

The Department of Community Health and Family Medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine developed a curriculum component integrating epidemiologic concepts into a third year family medicine clerkship through a small-group project on a specific condition likely to be encountered by primary care physicians in community practice. (MSE)

The primary care clerkship at George Washington University (District of Columbia) medical school, the only required ambulatory care experience in the curriculum, is described. Topics discussed include the interdisciplinary structure of the program, its goals, curriculum and student evaluation, and challenges faced in implementation (faculty,…

The University of Rochester has developed a third-year medical school clerkship in which students spend the second half of the clerkship in the offices of practicing internists. Participating faculty are carefully chosen and trained. Experience indicates the approach is feasible, academically effective, and acceptable to students and faculty.…

In an experimental program, problem-based learning was used as the primary instructional method for a one-month primary-care internal medicine rotation on AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) patient care. Resident, tutor, and faculty perceptions of the problem-based approach were positive. Despite substantial initial planning, little…