The mission of Outpatient Experience (OPEX) is to provide an understanding of the role of the physician in the clinical setting and in the community through longitudinal clinical and didactic experiences during the first two years of medical school. The course focuses on understanding the relationship between the patient, the doctor, the health care team, and the community. OPEX relies on a large network of academic and community-based faculty in primary care disciplines. This is a required course which uses over one hundred faculty as facilitators and preceptors. A subspecialty component may be provided at the end of the second year of the course.
Goals:
- The student will have consistent exposure to clinical medicine and mentorship in a primary care setting, emphasizing continuity of care and evidence-based medicine.
- The student will learn and practice communication styles which are culturally sensitive and effective with patients, and professional with colleagues.
- The student will have multiple experiences to learn and improve history taking and physical exam skills.
- The student will have multiple experiences to learn and deliver effective techniques in health promotion.
- The student will have opportunities for reflection on professionalism and process improvement.
- The student will describe the various roles and responsibilities of members of the healthcare team and the office support staff necessary to manage an efficient, effective medical practice, and to provide adequate and appropriate patient care.
- The student will have opportunities to observe and discuss the impact of culture, socioeconomic status, spirituality, health beliefs and practices, and lifestyle and behavior(s) on the provider/patient relationship and healthcare outcomes.
Objectives:
By the end of the scheduled outpatient experiences, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate competence in history taking and physical exam skills as determined by evaluations from mentor, patients, preceptors, evaluators and standardized patients (OSCE; OSP).
- Demonstrate proficiency in the accurate and timely procurement and documentation of patient data. (SOAP notes; History and Physical)
- Demonstrate proficiency in concise oral presentation of patient data. (Preceptor eval; OSCE; Mentor)
- Demonstrate competency in health promotion/preventive medicine. (Preceptor eval; Mentor)
- Learn to provide patient follow-up via telephone in order to emphasize self-management goals and to learn acceptable telephone medicine implementation. (Preceptor eval; Module)
- Provide ‘added value’ to the practice in which he/she is learning (Preceptor).
- Become knowledgeable about medical economic issues including insurance, reimbursement, overhead, and liability. (Lecture; exam)
- Develop effective communication and interpersonal skills to foster a trusting, effective patient/provider relationship. (OSCE; OSP; mentor; preceptor)
- Identify and utilize patient education resources tailored to the patient’s educational and literacy level, language and health issues. (Preceptor)
- Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of a patient’s culture, including beliefs, perceptions, socioeconomic status, culture, gender, and ethnicity, on the patient’s health. (Preceptor; mentor; paper)
- Demonstrate an understanding of issues affecting patient compliance and health outcomes. (Preceptor)
- Develop an awareness of community resources available for patient support and wellness. (Preceptor)
- Demonstrate `at all times and in all aspects of this experience. (Preceptor)
- Apply the basic sciences/foundations of medicine to clinical medicine and patient care. (Preceptor; mentor)