Curriculum Resources Project Family Medicine

Family Medicine Clerkship Curriculum Resources

One component of the Family Medicine Curriculum Resource is the Family Medicine Clerkship Curriculum Resource (FMCCR ). The contract charge was to "create competencies that define the Family Medicine Clerkship's contribution to the development of the clinical skills of all medical students." The resulting Family Medicine Clerkship Curriculum Resource includes suggested goals and competencies for students on clinical clerkships in family medicine (FM), as well as extensive FM clerkship educational resources. The FMCCR seeks to be a repository for the best resources in clinical education of medical students in family medicine. Family medicine educators could utilize these resources, for example, to develop new clerkships, revise existing clerkships in response to local changes in curriculum, justify increases in clerkship time, or create tighter linkages with residency education.

The FMCCR was developed by a workgroup of experienced educators from family medicine predoctoral and residency programs around the country. The FM Clerkship Workgroup began its work by reviewing historical documents related to the development of the family medicine clerkship, recent recommendations for curricular revision, and the ACGME residency competencies. The workgroup recognizes that family medicine clerkships must be responsive to their local context; therefore, these resources are envisioned not as a guidebook to place on a shelf, but rather as a "living" Web-based entity constantly refreshed through peer-reviewed contributions, selective editing, and responsiveness to changes in medical education and society.

The workgroup envisions the resource as a "matrix" that allows end-users to access the resources through several dimensions. The FMCCR matrix incorporates:

• Six ACGME competencies
• Five Family Medicine Principles -- Values that define the profession, which should guide our educational activities
• Context of Care
• Continuity of Care
• Comprehensive Care
• Coordination of Care
• Biopsychosocial Approach
• Three Family Medicine Clerkship Themes -- Contexts in which family medicine delivers care
• Prevention and Wellness
• Acute and Chronic Illness
• Community and Population Medicine
• Family Medicine Topic Areas-- A constantly evolving set of resources on important clinical topics in family medicine

An important dimension of the Family Medicine Clerkship Curriculum Resource matrix is the ACGME competency framework. Indexing FM clerkship resources by the ACGME competencies enables predoctoral educators to "view" the FM clerkship through a long-term outcome "lens" that is consistent with the recommendations of the Future of Family Medicine Objectives. The FMCCR matrix structure has been presented at professional meetings over the last two years and has received considerable positive feedback and suggestions for refinement from colleagues. The workgroup also reviewed the framework in response to the recent Future of Family Medicine Initiative.

The first product developed by the workgroup was an outline of broad competencies for a family medicine clerkship organized by the ACGME competencies. We believe this innovative resource will be especially useful to predoctoral educators as they review and revise their family medicine clerkships to meet current challenges to reinvent the medical curriculum.

The list of common topics in family medicine clerkship curricula was derived by reviewing leading texts used in family medicine clerkships, as well as current clerkship topic priorities as reported by clerkship directors. The FMCCR does not propose to dictate "what" is taught in the family medicine clerkship, but rather to serve as a resource for developing or refining clerkship competencies, providing a compendium of well-chosen resources for implementing and evaluating curricula and for the faculty development of those doing the teaching. The topic list will grow and change as the focus of the practice of family medicine and the needs of educators evolve.

The Family Medicine Clerkship Curriculum Resources include:  

• Broad Family Medicine Clerkship Goals and Objectives arrayed by Family Medicine Principles, FM Clerkship Themes, and the ACGME Competencies
• 29 Family Medicine Clerkship Topic Outlines, including educational resources and suggested topic-related clerkship competencies arrayed by Family Medicine Principles, FM Clerkship Themes, and the ACGME competency areas
• Family Medicine Clerkship Faculty Development Resources

Plans for the future include implementation of a peer-review process for soliciting additional resources.