Groups & Initiatives

The Family Medicine Clerkship Curriculum

What is it?
This curriculum is a list of common and important presentations that all medical students should experience during their third year family medicine clerkship.

Why was it created?
This curriculum was developed to give family medicine and family medicine educators:

• knowledge of our commonalities and the ability to describe what unique attributes we add to the curriculum at our school
• focus for our national subject examination
• national curricular resource materials

Exactly what is it?

    I. Principles
    II. Clinical Experiences
       a. Acute Presentations
       b. Chronic Diseases
       c. Well adult and child prevention visits
    III. Role of Family Medicine in Health Care

Do I have to do it?  And will you tell me how?

This curriculum is a resource, not a requirement. It is, as Past President Scott Fields, MD, MHA, says, “the What, not the How.”
The next phase of this project will be addressing the “how.”

Who created it?

A task force (members below) created the document for STFM.  It has been endorsed by the Council of Academic Family Medicine, the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors, the Association of Departments of Family Medicine,  North American Primary Care Research Group and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

The STFM Foundation provided funding for the creation of this curriculum.

Click here to print this information.
Click here to download the Executive Summary to the Clerkship Curriculum.  (pdf)
Click here to download frequently asked questions.  (pdf)
Click here to download the Family Medicine Clerkship Curriculum. (pdf)

Task Force Members

• Heidi Chumley, MD, Kansas University Medical Center, Task force Chair,
  Alexander Chessman, MD, Medical University of South Carolina, fmCASES Representative
• Deborah Clements, MD, University of Kansas Medical Center, AAFP Representative
• Susan Cochella, MD, University of Utah, Group on Predoctoral Education Representative
• Robert Hatch, MD, MPH, University of Florida, Group on Predoctoral Education Representative
• Joseph Hobbs, MD, Medical College of Georgia, ADFM Representative
• Katherine Margo, MD, University of Pennsylvania, Group on Predoctoral Education Representative
• Timothy Munzing, MD, Kaiser Permanente Orange County, AFMRD Representative
• Gurjeet Shokar, MD, University of Texas Medical Branch, STFM Education Committee Representative