Clerkship in Population and Community Health (PCHC)
The Population and Community Health Clerkship (PCHC) is a team-based, interprofessional, community engaged experience required of all third year medical students in the Explorations phase of the Vista curriculum. Students are sorted by ranked preference into teams of 4-8 students directed by academic and community preceptors from a range of professions and disciplines. Each team’s experience is unique. Team leaders plan interprofessional activities exposing learners to a specific population of interest (e.g. veterans, people living with disabilities, seniors at risk of falls) and are encouraged to select from a central calendar of lectures and events relevant to public and, population and community health. Students work in small groups to address community-identified needs through service learning. On the final day of the clerkship, students present in a mini-conference format then provide written feedback on two other team’s presentations.
The Population and Community Health Clerkship provides relevant real-world context and opportunity for students to understand the clinician’s roles in the work of public, population and community health. Students spend 80% of their time in community settings. When not engaged with community, students complete two independent learning modules (ILMs) and reflective writing exercises, prepare and give an academic presentation to their peers, and provide written feedback to two peer presentations.
The core curriculum covered by the ILMs includes the following content areas: ILM1: Learning about Population and Community Health includes Population and Community Health: Definitions, Example and Difference; Interprofessional Networks of Care; The Health of Populations and Communities; Occupational Health; and Screening Tests. ILM2: Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Community Level includes Partnering with the Public; Preventive Medicine; Implementation of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Interventions; and Evaluation of Population and Community Health Interventions.
After the completion of the PCHC, the learner will be able to
- Demonstrate an understanding of community partners’ referral processes, eligibility requirements and strategies for warm handoffs
- Identify existing community and population-level data to aid interpretation of symptoms in context of specific local social determinants of health
- Identify strengths and weaknesses of data collected at the population and community levels
- Effectively use the power of the clinician voice to shape policy and research priorities, move advocacy at different levels
- Work with a team to further the goals of a community health project.
- Effectively summarize and present the results of the team’s clerkship findings and actions
- Provide respectful feedback to peers in the context of an academic presentation
Assessment of the student is based on the independent learning modules, written reflections, peer presentation feedback reviews, and team-based presentation score.
JUNE 21 2024 | cjb