Underserved Care

This four-week rotation serves to introduce the student to the healthcare needs that are unique to the underserved population in rural, urban, and suburban settings. It will demonstrate the critical role the primary care physician plays in the care provided to the underserved population, and will provide learning opportunities that allow students to understand the concepts of social determinants of health, health equity, and health equality and their impact on health outcomes. Often, achieving health equity requires reaching beyond the clinic and into communities. Learning opportunities will challenge the student to begin to examine their own implicit biases it relates to patient care. It will teach a primary care approach to the evaluation and management of a variety of disease presentations (acute, chronic disease, wellness/prevention) in the office setting for the underserved population. It will also provide instruction on the following essential skills: history taking, physical exam skills, management planning, and clinical reasoning.