Which medical schools offer the best education in regards to the community-based medical model?

[TheDocNessMonster]

Hey guys,

I am a rising senior interested in primary care and I am applying to medical school this cycle. I would like to attend medical schools that offer education derived from the community-based model of medicine. I was wondering if you guys could recommend medical schools that fit this bill? Thanks a bunch!

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[Lucca]

You might want to look into the Columbia-Basset program. Extremely competitive, but if you are a good fit for it then it would be a great option. Big city and small town clinical education at one of the best schools in the country.

If you are in Texas, Texas Tech (Foster and Lubbock) as well as Dell are doing interesting things in terms of community based medical education. Things like hub-and-spoke clinical rotations (central medical center and clinics in the communities), language immersion programs (Spanish), home visits and direct care, etc. I'm not at one of those Texas programs but I have several friends who are and are interested in primary care and are having a great time.

 

[LizzyM]

Commonwealth in Scranton, Pennsylvania?
Medical College of Wisconsin Green Bay and Central Wisconsin campuses.

 

[Eurycea]

Look into the OU-TU School of Community Medicine in Tulsa, Oklahoma

 

[TheDocNessMonster]

You might want to look into the Columbia-Basset program. Extremely competitive, but if you are a good fit for it then it would be a great option. Big city and small town clinical education at one of the best schools in the country.

If you are in Texas, Texas Tech (Foster and Lubbock) as well as Dell are doing interesting things in terms of community based medical education. Things like hub-and-spoke clinical rotations (central medical center and clinics in the communities), language immersion programs (Spanish), home visits and direct care, etc. I'm not at one of those Texas programs but I have several friends who are and are interested in primary care and are having a great time.

I am from Texas actually (best place on Earth), so I know about Dell and Tech and am in the process of applying. Thanks for telling me about Columbia-Basset though, that program literally looks like a dream come true! Unfortunately, I'm not sure if my stats and background are good enough to get into that program; that won't stop me from applying though!

Possibly Jesuit schools - Loyola, SLU, Creighton, Gtown (though maybe a bit less so at Gtown based on my impression of the students I met on interview day). OUWB in Michigan. If I'm remembering correctly Wisconsin has a big emphasis on public health in its curriculum but you might be out of luck if you're an OOS candidate with less than stellar stats.

Wow, thanks for that comprehensive list! For some reason I always thought those schools were research-focused, not really sure why. Yeah I am out-of-state for Wisconsin, so I probably won't apply there lol.

Commonwealth in Scranton, Pennsylvania?
Medical College of Wisconsin Green Bay and Central Wisconsin campuses.

That's Geisinger, right? I've heard great things about that school! Thanks for your response.

Look into the OU-TU School of Community Medicine in Tulsa, Oklahoma

I'll look into it, thanks for your response!

 

[JB50]

Why are you interested in that specific style opie?

Only asking cuz idk and im curious lol. Or if someone else could give the tl;dr on that model id be happy.;

 

[Lucca]

Why are you interested in that specific style opie?

Only asking cuz idk and im curious lol. Or if someone else could give the tl;dr on that model id be happy.;

I can't speak for OP but there are some really interesting and exciting things going on in this space. If it's happening in Texas, I'm sure it's happening in other parts of the country.

Take the clinic I volunteer at as a translator:

1. Donation based free clinic but has really nice, up to date facilities.

2. At least 51% of the executive board members of the clinic system must be current patients of the clinic.

3. In addition to typical primary care services, all patients are entitled to services from in-house nutritionists, legal staff, social workers. The legal staff do not only work on insurance or malpractice issues, but offer pro bono advise on landlord disputes, housing problems, issues patients have at their job, workers comp, etc.

4. The people who are employed (paid) at the clinic must live in the community the clinic serves (Volunteer physicians are not paid, but many other staff are and some physicians are employed by the clinic part time and those physicians don't have to live in the community; last I heard Dell residency programs are trying to change this).

5. Cooking classes are offered at the clinic (which has a full service professional kitchen in house as well) for free to clinic patients. At the end of the 6 week program, clinic patients receive a cookbook with all of the recipes they learned. Recipes are chosen from the different cultures represented in the clinic community and patients in the program are given options on the different recipes they would like to learn. After each class, patients are given grocery bags with sufficient supplies to cook the same recipe at home for their Families and friends.

6. Referral system set up at major acute centers in the city so that whenever acute charity care is available, patients who need it the most are able to get it.

When you work at one of these types of places, it's just like wow, why can't everything be like this.

 

[JB50]

I can't speak for OP but there are some really interesting and exciting things going on in this space. If it's happening in Texas, I'm sure it's happening in other parts of the country.

Take the clinic I volunteer at as a translator:

1. Donation based free clinic but has really nice, up to date facilities.

2. At least 51% of the executive board members of the clinic system must be current patients of the clinic.

3. In addition to typical primary care services, all patients are entitled to services from in-house nutritionists, legal staff, social workers. The legal staff do not only work on insurance or malpractice issues, but offer pro bono advise on landlord disputes, housing problems, issues patients have at their job, workers comp, etc.

4. The people who are employed (paid) at the clinic must live in the community the clinic serves (Volunteer physicians are not paid, but many other staff are and some physicians are employed by the clinic part time and those physicians don't have to live in the community; last I heard Dell residency programs are trying to change this).

5. Cooking classes are offered at the clinic (which has a full service professional kitchen in house as well) for free to clinic patients. At the end of the 6 week program, clinic patients receive a cookbook with all of the recipes they learned. Recipes are chosen from the different cultures represented in the clinic community and patients in the program are given options on the different recipes they would like to learn. After each class, patients are given grocery bags with sufficient supplies to cook the same recipe at home for their Families and friends.

6. Referral system set up at major acute centers in the city so that whenever acute charity care is available, patients who need it the most are able to get it.

When you work at one of these types of places, it's just like wow, why can't everything be like this.

Wow. Was totally clueless. Thank you! That's super cool.

 

[TheDocNessMonster]

Why are you interested in that specific style opie?

Only asking cuz idk and im curious lol. Or if someone else could give the tl;dr on that model id be happy.;

I'm interested in this style because I think it's the future! I've shadowed at a clinic that implemented the model and also done a lot of research about it, and I've found that it can be very effective in preventative care and achieving overall wellness rather than just treating problems as they pop up.

While some of the schools certainly offer abundant research opportunities if you're interested (if I'm remembering correctly, Loyola has a research track and OUWB has a mandatory research project for all students), they also have what you're looking for in terms of a more "holistic"/community-based idea of the practice of medicine. The Jesuits are very focused on community service and providing care for the whole person; OUWB has a similar approach to teaching patient care minus the religious overtones. At OUWB you can also do community-based research projects with local nonprofits for your mandatory research.

Honestly, I'm pretty neutral on research. The holistic part sounds great though! Thanks for your reply!

 

[Chromium Surfer]

I can't speak for OP but there are some really interesting and exciting things going on in this space. If it's happening in Texas, I'm sure it's happening in other parts of the country.

Take the clinic I volunteer at as a translator:

1. Donation based free clinic but has really nice, up to date facilities.

2. At least 51% of the executive board members of the clinic system must be current patients of the clinic.

3. In addition to typical primary care services, all patients are entitled to services from in-house nutritionists, legal staff, social workers. The legal staff do not only work on insurance or malpractice issues, but offer pro bono advise on landlord disputes, housing problems, issues patients have at their job, workers comp, etc.

4. The people who are employed (paid) at the clinic must live in the community the clinic serves (Volunteer physicians are not paid, but many other staff are and some physicians are employed by the clinic part time and those physicians don't have to live in the community; last I heard Dell residency programs are trying to change this).

5. Cooking classes are offered at the clinic (which has a full service professional kitchen in house as well) for free to clinic patients. At the end of the 6 week program, clinic patients receive a cookbook with all of the recipes they learned. Recipes are chosen from the different cultures represented in the clinic community and patients in the program are given options on the different recipes they would like to learn. After each class, patients are given grocery bags with sufficient supplies to cook the same recipe at home for their Families and friends.

6. Referral system set up at major acute centers in the city so that whenever acute charity care is available, patients who need it the most are able to get it.

When you work at one of these types of places, it's just like wow, why can't everything be like this.

oh my gosh this is SO RAD!