Family Medicine Rural Clerkship

Family Medicine is a six-week clerkship in which students are assigned to a family medicine practice throughout the state of South Carolina. Students gain core clinical skills and knowledge in primary care with an emphasis on the importance of ambulatory care and the patient-physician relationship.

CLERKSHIP OBJECTIVES

Patient Care and Procedural Skills (PC)

1. Proposes hypothesis-driven diagnostic testing and interpret results from commonly used laboratory tests. (PC5)
2. Develops and implements an evaluation and management plan for both acute and chronic clinical conditions. (PC6)
3. Performs diagnostic and screening procedures utilized by primary care physicians in comprehensive patient care. (PC7)
4. Evaluates patient problems in a community and family context. (PC8)
5. Assesses the patient and the family in the context of the bio-psychosocial model. (PC8)
6. Identifies how interpersonal relationships, social characteristics and cultural norms can alter the presentation and management of an illness. (PC8)
7. Refers patients to other health professions, agencies, and different levels of care as appropriate. (PC9)

Medical Knowledge (MK)

1. Describes the pathophysiology, epidemiology, risk factors, and the course of commonly encountered conditions in family medicine. (MK1)
2. Applies the scientific principles underlying diagnostic methods, including laboratory and radiologic testing, and treatment approaches (pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic) that may be applied to major diseases and conditions. (MK2)
3. Demonstrates knowledge of the critical evaluation of current basic and clinical sciences in application to diagnosis and management of common patient conditions. (MK3)

Interpersonal and Communication Skills (IC)

1. Communicates effectively with patients and caregivers, using active listening, patient-centered language, to foster therapeutic relationships with patients across a broad range of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds with respect, empathy and support of emotions. (IC1)
2. Communicates effectively with team members in verbal, nonverbal and written communication, including clear, accurate and organized progress notes. (IC2)
3. Provides education to patients and caregivers using language tailored to the patient and caregiver context. (IC3)
4. Counsels, educates, and partners with patients, families, and the community to promote health and prevent health problems using accurate, current evidence-based information. (IC3)

Practice-Based Learning and Improvement (PL)

1. Acknowledges personal limitations and demonstrates strategies for analyzing, identifying and improving deficiencies in knowledge and skills by setting learning and improvement goals. (PL1)
2. Identifies gaps in knowledge and utilizes credible sources of information to aid evidence-based decisions. (PL2)

Systems-Based Practice (SP)

1. Describes health disparities and health care disparities, how they affect patient and system outcomes, and identify ways to address disparities. (SP1)
2. Explains how preventive measures, health behaviors and social determinants affect disease, injury and health in individual patients and across populations. (SP1)
3. Identifies and apply principles and tools of continuous quality improvement to enhance patient care. (SP3)
4. Describes the impact of health policy and healthcare financing on access, quality, and outcomes. (SP5)

REQUIRED CLINICAL ENCOUNTERS

Diagnosis Participate in the care of patients with the following diagnoses:	Outpatient or Inpatient
Anxiety	O
Chest Pain	O
Chronic Respiratory Disease (asthma, COPD, ILD, etc.)	O
Depression	O
Diabetes mellitus, Type 2	O
Diabetes mellitus, uncontrolled	O
Dizziness	O
Fatigue	O
Genitourinary complaints (vaginitis, UTI, erectile dysfunction, BPH)	O
Headache	O
Hypertension	O
Insomnia or other sleep disorder	O
Knee Pain	O
Low Back Pain	O
Obesity	O
Preventive care	O
Shoulder pain	O
Skin rash	O
Upper Respiratory Infection (OM, OE, sinusitis, pharyngitis, etc)	O
Wounds	O
Chronic Pain	O
Heart failure	O
Substance Use Disorder (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, opioid)	O
Procedures and Skills	Outpatient or Inpatient
Perform nutritional counseling	O
Perform smoking cessation	O
Perform an AUDIT (alcohol use disorders identification test)	O
Perform an interpretation of an EKG	O