Integrating prevention education into the medical school curriculum: the role of departments of family medicine.

Departments of family medicine--including departments of family and community medicine, departments of family and preventive medicine, and departments of family practice-at U.S. medical schools regularly participate in teaching prevention principles to students, using a variety of formats and methods.

Why graduates of the LSU School of Medicine, New Orleans choose primary care careers.

In an effort to determine the factors that influence medical students to choose careers in primary care fields, 1994 LSU-New Orleans School of Medicine graduates in residency programs in family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics were surveyed. Factors relating to internal influences, such as clerkships or faculty exposure, or external factors, such as a primary care physician role model or national emphasis on primary care, were ranked according to their influence upon the respondents career choice. The more influential factors were clerkships and primary care electives and the national emphasis on primary care.

LSU Medical Center initiates family medicine clerkship program for third year medical students.

This article takes note of the family physician shortage in Louisiana and the continuing need to inform medical students of the career choice in family medicine. Drs English, Gatipon, and Catlin describe the planning stages, the training of clinical teachers, and the implementation of a third (junior) year required clerkship in family medicine at LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans. The students who participated in the pilot year of the program have been enthusiastic about the value of the experience in their total medical education.