I is to provide a series of experiences to enable all first year students to consider topics relating to patients' experience of illness, to begin to master basic communicating and interviewing skills, to discuss social, ethical, and psychological aspects of the physician role, and to develop an ongoing relationship with a preceptor-clinician. In units of eight students and three faculty, tutorial sessions of two hours alternate weekly with patient-related sessions of the same length in which students have the opportunity to master the art of taking a medical history. The fundamentals taught in this course serve as a prerequisite to Introduction to Clinical Medicine. This course provides students with an in-depth opportunity for discussion and analysis of the ethical, social, financial, ethnic and cultural issues posed by the patients encountered in the clinic.
Students gain an improved understanding of factors affecting patient and provider behavior.
Students also obtain a working knowledge of the dental care delivery system within which these behaviors exist and an understanding of the trends affecting the delivery of dental health services in the United States. Basic fundamentals in risk management, quality assurance, decision analysis and professional career decisions are presented.