community-based vs. academic-based medicine

[DocLove06]

What's the difference between community-based and academic-based medicine. Is is better to do rotations at one or the other?

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[LizzyM]

What's the difference between community-based and academic-based medicine. Is is better to do rotations at one or the other?

What kind of rotations are you talking about?

Here are my definitions of community-based and academic-based medicine:


Academic medicine usually refers to a facility or a provider that is engaged in teaching, research and patient care. The teaching can be at the bedside or clinic including the supervision of residents (recent medical school graduates who engage in several years of supervised training called a residency) as well as in the classroom or laboratory. Research can be in the laboratory or in the clinic and almost always includes clinical trials of innovative treatments.

Community based medicine refers to a facility or provider that is engaged soley in patient care.

 

[Instatewaiter]

What's the difference between community-based and academic-based medicine. Is is better to do rotations at one or the other?

Generally academic centers are going to be larger, have a higher volume of pts, a higher acuity of cases, see the more severe cases, have a more research-oriented focus and will often times be closer to the cutting edge. They also tend to have interns, residents and fellows- for better or worse. They are used to training students.

Community centers are usually smaller and as Lizzy said focused on only pt care. I have heard some on SDN say that community centers allow you more hands on experience but I would rather be in a place that is used to having students and teaching students than somewhere that is unequipped or where you are an after thought.

Almost all rotations (perhaps with the exception of family med, a part of other rotations) in medical school will be in academic centers because they better equipped to handle both student and patient and they have really become the gold standard for medical education

 

[Danbo1957]

This topic is always interesting. One has to remember that "Community hospitals" can include public county types facilities that receive the same kinds of patients as do the academic hospitals. Generally, a community hospital is smaller than a "General" hospital and caters to local patients for short-term care - there may, or not be, a resident program available.

 

[LizzyM]

This topic is always interesting. One has to remember that "Community hospitals" can include public county types facilities that receive the same kinds of patients as do the academic hospitals. Generally, a community hospital is smaller than a "General" hospital and caters to local patients for short-term care - there may, or not be, a resident program available.

But community medicine takes place not only in hospitals but in other facilities, too including private practice (your average "doctor's office"), urgent visit centers, government funded outpatient clinics, not-for-profit clinics, even extended care facilities (nursing homes). The key difference in my mind is no formal ties to a medical school and usually no research.

 

[HeyThereJude]

Hey I have a question, what is the term used for the area in medicine for medically serving under-served communities? is it called "community medicine" or is it something else?

 

[HeyThereJude]

Hey I have a question, what is the term used for the area in medicine for medically serving under-served communities? is it called "community medicine" or is it something else?

Meaning, as in what county organizations do? For people uninsured, minorities, etc?

 

[LizzyM]

Hey I have a question, what is the term used for the area in medicine for medically serving under-served communities? is it called "community medicine" or is it something else?

Medicine is medicine regardless of the payer (county, charity, insurance, state/federal gov't).

Family medicine programs seems to be adding "community medicine" to their names and adding public health to their training. By this I mean epidemiology, health policy, bioinformatics, behavioral science, etc.

Some Canadian schools (McGill comes to mind) offer residency programs in community medicine but this appears to be comparable to public health.

 

[HeyThereJude]

Medicine is medicine regardless of the payer (county, charity, insurance, state/federal gov't).

Family medicine programs seems to be adding "community medicine" to their names and adding public health to their training. By this I mean epidemiology, health policy, bioinformatics, behavioral science, etc.

Some Canadian schools (McGill comes to mind) offer residency programs in community medicine but this appears to be comparable to public health.

Thanks Lizzy, but is there a name specifically for people who work with the underserved? Is it not related to the term "community-based medicine"?

 

[LizzyM]

Thanks Lizzy, but is there a name specifically for people who work with the underserved? Is it not related to the term "community-based medicine"?

I think you might want to know more about federally qualified health centers:

http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/fqhc.htm

I think that "community-based medicine" is a buzz phrase along the lines of "primary care provider". The ultimate in community-based medicine is practiced in Cuba where a physician and nurse are assigned to live and work in a particular neighborhood and are held responsible for the health of every person living within the boundaries of that neighborhood.

Family medicine seems to go hand in hand with this philosophy of "community-based medicine".