The textbook required for the course is Fundamentals of Family Medicine by Taylor. A director at each clerkship site is responsible for the students' educational experience. At least thirty hours a week are spent in direct ambulatory care, with the remaining time used for reading and completing assignments, rounding on inpatients, and attending educational programs. Students are matched to sites through a lottery process which takes student preferences into account. Sites available to students include private practitioners' offices of various size, and ambulatory care centers associated with family practice residency programs.
Settings are diverse and include inner city, rural, urban, and suburban.
This range of choices makes the Family Medicine Clerkship unique at Loyola. Criteria for participation as a site include adequate patient volumes, enthusiasm for teaching, a supportive office staff, quality clinical care, and clinical teaching experience. The clerkship has been given high scores by the students. Their written comments reflect satisfaction with the excellent quality if teaching provided by the preceptors, the collegial atmosphere throughout the clerkship, and the diversity of patients seen. This feedback is compiled and returned to our preceptors on a regular basis.