Firm foundations

By Joe Kuttenkuler

The Foundations of Clinical Medicine program in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine for a decade has placed first- and second-year medical students on the front lines of healthcare – working in concert with community physicians and their patients. What began as a project to provide more primary care physicians to the Commonwealth has become an engine that turns out well-rounded, patient-centered doctors.

A ceremony marking the 10th year of the collaboration will be held at 6 p.m. on May 24 in the Commonwealth Ballroom of the VCU Student Commons, 907 Floyd Ave.

Established in 1995 through a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant, the Foundations of Clinical Medicine course is a two-year, hands-on, out-of-the-classroom experience that teaches students basic clinical skills, including medical interviewing, physical diagnosis, clinical reasoning and professionalism.

Initially, VCU was one of only 16 medical schools in the United States to develop a program pairing medical students with community preceptors. Today most medical schools have such a program.

By its second year, the program was expanded to include second-year students, and today the Foundations of Clinical Medicine harnesses the expertise of nearly 300 community physicians – almost half of whom are VCU alumni.

During the ceremony, 218 physicians will receive plaques recognizing six or more years of service. Several of the community physicians are graduates from the first class.

Medical students at VCU previously had to wait until their third-year before having direct patient contact. Administrators view the early patient interaction the program provides as vital to preparing students for the challenges of the medical environment.

“Early exposure to clinical medicine stimulates a student’s enthusiasm for medicine in general,“ said James Messmer, M.D., senior associate dean for medical education. “Providing this exposure in a primary care setting is an effective way of giving students a better understanding of medical practice regardless of the specialty they choose.”

And today, medical practice means more than a thorough understanding of biology and anatomy. With medical schools ramping up the emphasis of humanism in medicine, VCU’s creation of the foundations program was at the forefront in blending clinical practice with patient-centered care.

In addition to the Foundations of Clinical Medicine celebration, the event also will recognize the physicians who completed the VCU/Reynolds Partnership in Geriatric Education Scholars Program, many of whom also are involved in the foundations program. The program was created in 2001 through a $1.8 million grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation.