Definition of Community Medicine: The incorporation of community perspectives in the provision of high-quality, culturally and linguistically competent healthcare; The provision of healthcare or health-promotion activities outside of the clinical setting (e.g. school-based, faith-based, or community-based initiatives); The provision of healthcare or health-promotion activities using the public health and epidemiology skills with an understanding of vulnerable populations and the systems that promote, sustain, or mitigate vulnerability. 

 

Course Description: The Department of Family Medicine and Community Health offers a two-to-four week elective in community medicine and public health. The experience is intended to provide medical students with a diverse exposure to Community Medicine and public health resources and experiences in Philadelphia with a focus on building capacity within the West Philadelphia community. The elective can be shaped to the individual interests of the student. There are two primary frameworks for the elective: 1) a 2-week exposure to public health venues; or 2) a 4-week, service-based project. During the 2-week public health offering, students will rotate with Family Medicine residents during their Community Medicine block rotations. Students can arrange on-site experiences in public health venues such as: Ambulatory Health Services, Division Disease Control, Lead Poisoning, Medical Examiners Office, Maternal Child Family Health, Environmental Health, Behavioral Health, Women's Health and Violence. We may be able to accommodate students interested in more in-depth work in a particular area who would prefer a more longitudinal experience a few selected sites. 

 

For students interested in service-learning opportunities, we can offer a structured service-based rotation in collaboration with existing departmental-community partnerships or support student-community partnerships that have already been developed or those currently seeking to develop collaborative partnerships. Content will include close faculty mentorship and self-learning modules on community based participatory research and outreach. Examples of existing collaborations include: the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health's longitudinal community medicine curriculum at the Charles R. Drew School and our recently developed health promotion curriculum being developed and delivered to the Carroll Park community in partnership with their Neighborhood Youth Aceivement Program (NYAP).

Clinical sessions during the elective are negotiable, including sessions in the Penn Family Care (with either faculty or residents), at several Federally Qualified Health Centers affiliated with the department.

 

Course Director: Peter Cronholm, MD, MSCE (peter.cronholm@uphs.upenn.edu)