School of Medicine, Community Service Education Initiatives

Implemented five years ago, the Foundations of Doctoring Curriculum (FODC) required of all medical students admitted to the University of Colorado School of Medicine. The FODC is a three-year longitudinal curriculum that begins in the first year and continues through the third year. The cornerstone of the FODC is the preceptorship – the experience the student has one-on-one with a practicing community-based primary care physician. This means that over 350 (1 in 4 in the Denver area) community-based primary care physicians volunteer their time to teach the 402 medical students in the FODC. The practices are located in private settings, community health centers, a staff model HMO and in University clinics. Of the total preceptors, 40 are in community health centers. These settings are unique because of the diverse patient population they serve. Students learning in these settings often work with patients who speak English as a second language, are low income and working poor patients. Students learn about the numerous community health resources that also serve these people and the neighborhoods they reside in.