Family & Community Medicine Senior Electives Course Listings

• Students will be able to participate on family medicine in-service team with an advanced degree of independence and responsibility in preparation for their R-1 year.
• Students will be able to perform an initial assessment of patients under consideration for admission to the family and community medicine service.
• Students will be able to implement diagnostic and therapeutic plans taking into account evidence-based information and patient preferences.

• Students will be able to participate on family and community medicine in-service team with an advanced degree of independence and responsibility in preparation for their R-1 year.
• Students will be able to perform an initial assessment of patients under consideration for admission to the family and community medicine service.
• Students will be able to implement diagnostic and therapeutic plans taking into account evidence-based information and patient preferences.

Students will work in a primary care practice location that is off campus (MCG students only) in order to gain experience in the evaluation and management of patients with undifferentiated clinical problems encountered in the practice of Family and Community Medicine. Note that this course is designed for students to work in a variety of private practice locations that are off-campus and throughout the country – not limited to GA sites.

Students will work in a primary care practice location in order to gain experience in the evaluation and management of patients with undifferentiated clinical problems encountered in the practice of Family and Community Medicine. Note that this course is designed with the intention of allowing students to work in a variety of private practice locations in the state but does not meet the requirements for the Sub-I selective.

Students wishing to conduct research during the course of their medical school training may do so for elective credit. This elective is for full-time research for the four-week blocks and cannot be taken at the same time as another elective. Credit earned during this elective can only be applied to the electives needed in the clerkship and post-clerkship curriculum 

Students working with a faculty in primary care can take this elective to work exclusively on their project, regardless of the stage it may be in.

• A copy of the protocol or grant proposal will be required
• Confirmation of work to be done by faculty mentor

Students not engaged in an active research project, can participate in ongoing studies within the Department of Family and Community Medicine.  Please check with Dayna Seymore for availability

This course is designed to give the students a clinical experience in Primary Care Sports Medicine. Students will have the opportunity to experience the practice of sports medicine in the clinical setting as well as in the field-side delivery of care; working with local high school sports teams. 

• Main Campus (Augusta) will work with AU Sports Medicine Department, Dr. Daniel Hannah.
• SW Campus (Albany) will work with Dr. Jordan Knoefler, FM Sports Med Doctor with Phoebe.

• Students will have the opportunity to learn about and work with local vulnerable populations through various community clinical settings as well as the student-run free clinics in the Augusta area, performing initial assessment of patient condition. 
• Students will maintain a diary or reflection journal in which you will capture and reflect on your patient encounter experiences and complete a simple project to potentially improve community health.

The primary goal of this rotation is to introduce you to the procedures performed by our family and community medicine faculty

• Students on this rotation have access to an endoscopy stimulator in the Department of Surgery.  While you are required to complete 10 flexible sigmoidoscopy cases on the endoscopy simulator, you are encouraged to work on colonoscopy and EGD cases.
• Students will perform a minimum of 5 of the following procedures: EKGs, pregnancy tests, urinalysis, rapid step tests, wet-preps, venipunctures, immunizations, and start 2 IVs during your procedural rotation

The course will engage students in researching key health policy topics and developing advocacy strategies to influence policy in these areas.

• Students will be engaged in discussions about required readings, literature reviews, and data analysis.
• Group discussions and small group work will be utilized to complete tasks. Sometimes group members may include full time faculty / staff assigned to certain topics and other times groups may be composed of solely students with a faculty lead.
• Students will be required to conduct extensive literature reviews and acquire latest research findings in topic area of interest, develop and participate in advocacy strategic planning, and develop and scholarly work products (e.g. fact sheets, position white papers, resolutions, etc.) and utilize these as indicated with various advocate groups.

• Students will rotate with the AU population health department in order to gain an understanding of the new models of health care. This will be an interdisciplinary four-week elective during the fourth year of medical school. 
• Medical students will work with the population health team, pharmacy students, Nursing/DNP students, Physician Assistant (PA) students and other members of the healthcare team. 
• The goal of the four-week elective is for the students to identify and solve real problems facing hospitals and clinics today.  Students will understand why the payment structure for healthcare is shifting from fee for service to pay for performance or Value Based Care

• Students will be able to utilize a process of rationale individualized prescribing and apply it to common core clinical scenarios in the outpatient ambulatory primary care setting
• Students will be able to implement diagnostic and therapeutic plans taking into account evidence-based information and patient preferences.  Students will use EBM resources to guide therapeutic decisions.
• Students will become familiar with common indications, common side effects, mechanisms of action, and essential monitoring parameters of  common medications and/or medication classes used in family and community medicine
• Students will apply concepts of rationale prescribing to a patient with multiple co-morbidities through medication reconciliation