title: Medical training in school-based health centers: a collaboration among five medical schools.
abstract: School-based health centers (SBHCs) have tremendous untapped potential as models for learning about systems-based care of vulnerable children. SBHCs aim to provide comprehensive, community-based primary health care to primary and secondary schoolchildren who might not otherwise have ready access to that care. The staffing at SBHCs is multidisciplinary, including various combinations of nurse practitioners, physicians, dentists, nutritionists, and mental health providers. Although this unique environment provides obvious advantages to children and their families, medical students and residents receive little or no preparation for this type of practice. To address these deficiencies in medical education, five downstate New York state medical schools, funded by the New York State Department of Health, collaborated to define, develop, implement, and evaluate curricula that expose health professions students and residents to SBHCs. The schools identified core competencies and developed a comprehensive training model for the project, including clinical experiences, didactic sessions, and community service opportunities, and they developed goals, objectives, and learning materials for each competency for all types and levels of learners. Each school has implemented a wide range of learning activities based on the competencies. In this paper, the authors describe the development of the collaboration and illustrate the process undertaken to implement new curricula, including considerations made to address institutional needs, curricula development, and incorporation into existing curricula. In addition, they discuss the lessons learned from conducting this collaborative effort among medical schools, with the goal of providing guidance to establish effective cross-disciplinary curricula that address newly defined competencies.
authors: Section of Primary Care, Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA. ak41@nyu.edu
authors: Adina L
authors: AL
authors: Kalet
authors: Linda
authors: L
authors: Juszczak
authors: Doris
authors: D
authors: Pastore
authors: Arthur H
authors: AH
authors: Fierman
authors: Karen
authors: K
authors: Soren
authors: Alwyn
authors: A
authors: Cohall
authors: Martin
authors: M
authors: Fisher
authors: Catherine
authors: C
authors: Hopkins
authors: Amy
authors: A
authors: Hsieh
authors: Elizabeth
authors: E
authors: Kachur
authors: Laurie
authors: L
authors: Sullivan
authors: Beth
authors: B
authors: Techow
authors: Caroline
authors: C
authors: Volel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003162:Competency-Based Education; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003479:Curriculum; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D009518:New York; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education*; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012572:School Health Services; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013337:Students, Medical