Community Health Issues of the New PBL Undergraduate Medical Curriculum at the University of Geneva: A Description

Abstract

In the newly redesigned PBL preclinical curriculum at the University of Geneva School of Medicine, a community-oriented skills programme introduces students to the conceptual framework of social and preventive medicine, the epidemiologic methods and data, as well as the network of community-based services and health care delivery. In addition, the program includes a project centered an a selected community health institution, a patient care follow-up program at a general practitioner's office, as well as a community based experience program where students work up a given health problem while attending short sire visits at various relevant community health agencies. These features help students elaborate on the three-dimensional model of medical education, i.e. the natural history of disease, the life cycle and the support resources.