Click here to view articles and video in e-reserves (The clerkship has added several new articles for the 2009-10 school year. If there is a hard copy binder of required articles at your site, please make sure the new articles for this year have been included.)

The family physician has the opportunity to work with patients toward optimal wellness. Establishing wellness hinges on a range of opportunities from encouraging healthy behaviors to targeted screenings to obstetrical care. Weighing the evidence behind these wellness and prevention activities is an important part of disease prevention and health promotion. The physician-patient relationship and continuity of care allows patients and physicians to jointly arrive at conclusions about the activities that will best match the patient’s overall health goals, especially when the evidence is weak or lacking. We have included a list of several wellness and prevention topics that are frequently addressed by family medicine physicians. We expect that you will use this list to direct your learning during the clerkship.

Part of your final exam will test your knowledge on the areas below based on the assigned readings and video. While working at your site, conflicting information will inevitably arise; for the purpose of uniformity across sites we require that you base your exam responses solely on the required readings:

1. Well adult visits - outline for men and one for women
2. Cardiovascular Disease Prevention
3. Cancer Screening
4. Geriatric Screening
5. Prenatal care
6. STI prevention and treatment