Introduction

The Faculty of Medicine at McGill offers an 8-week clerkship in Family Medicine during the “Practice of Medicine” portion of its curriculum. This clerkship, which is completed in the third year of the curriculum, is complementary to a previous experience in family medicine during the Introduction to Clinical Medicine course. It provides the student with the opportunity to work as part of an interdisciplinary team in a variety of ambulatory settings in order to increase their understanding of the discipline of family medicine.

The goals of the clerkship are the same as those of the ICM course. They are:

• To promote a patient-centered model of care
• To develop an ambulatory care approach.
• To promote an understanding of the patient as part of a family and the community.
• To promote continuous and comprehensive care.
• To foster health promotion and disease prevention.
• To teach the need for continued self-directed learning.
• To provide an opportunity for an informed career choice

The goals are derived from the four principles of Family Medicine as stated by the College of Family Physicians of Canada. The four principles form a basis for all the educational activities of the College and help define not only family medicine as a discipline but also the role of the family physician. These principles are:

FOUR PRINCIPLES OF FAMILY MEDICINE

1. The patient-physician relationship is central to Family Medicine.

2. The family physician is a skilled clinician.

3. Family Medicine is community-based.

4. The family physician is a resource to a defined practice population.

The clerkship can be done in three ways:
A student must complete a minimum of 4 weeks of rural clerkship.

1. A rotation in one of the three McGill Family Medicine teaching units or one of several affiliated sites within urban Montreal. Students choosing to do their clerkship in urban Montreal will participate in centralized core teaching twice a week.

2. A rotation in one of the McGill rural or remote teaching sites. These teaching sites are approved for residency training by the Professional Corporation of Physicians of Quebec. Their teaching staff is affiliated with the Department of Family Medicine at McGill. The Ministry of Social Affairs of Quebec is funding travel and lodging costs for students.

3. A “Special” rotation in any other site not part of the McGill system and outside of the Montreal area. Such a rotation will be approved after a written proposal, describing an experience which fulfills all the goals and objectives outlined in this book, has been submitted to the Department of Family Medicine teaching office by the student. This proposal must be signed by the supervisor at this site. The supervisor has to be an accredited family physician. Once the final decision has been made by Dr. Leonora Lalla based on this proposal, students will be allowed to proceed with arrangements for this rotation. It may be urban or rural.

The recommended textbooks for the clerkship are: “Mosby’s Family Practice Sourcebook by K. G. Marshall” and “A Textbook of Family Medicine” by Ian R. McWhinney. Part one of the second book is required reading for all students. “The Canadian Guide to Clinical Preventive Health Care (The Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination)", though not compulsory readings, will prove to be excellent resources.

Important Dates:

Deadline for Submission of Proposals for Rural & Urban "Specials"