Community-based Medical Education: Towards a Shared Agenda for Learning Book

The trend in medical practice is towards long-term care in the community, as a result of medical advances, higher recovery rates, the aging population and fewer hospital beds. Medical education, however, is still focused on acute hospital care, despite the high proportion of doctors who go into community practice. Reorganization and restructuring of health services in the US and Europe have placed primary care center-stage in the provision of health care. Advances in medical practice, changes to the funding of health services and an aging population all lie behind this trend towards long term community-based care. These changes bring profound implications for medical education, not least of which is the need to reconfigure the traditional curriculum. Community-Based Medical Education addresses the need for change in medical education and outlines some of the key elements which are necessary to any effective reform of this kind. This invaluable text analyses relationships between health care and health care education, sets the scene for educational reform and suggests directions for the development of education programs. Information is provided on the role of community-based teaching, teaching strategies, inter-professional education and inter-agency co-operation. International case studies and illustrations support the text and clarify the points made.Read More