The Department of Family and Community Medicine was created in 1998 to provide educational, clinical and research leadership in primary care and ambulatory medicine within Tulane University Medical Center and the surrounding community. Family Medicine, established as a distinct discipline in 1969, is a broad medical specialty providing on-going, comprehensive health care for the individual and the family.
Family Medicine integrates biological, clinical and behavioral science in order to treat the patient from a biopsychosocial perspective. The scope of Family Medicine encompasses all ages, both genders, each organ system and every disease entity. Also integral to Family Medicine is a focus on evidence-based medicine to treat patients using the latest and best evidence available. Read More
The Department of Family and Community Medicine fullfills its mission through excellence, innovation and commitment to:
- The comprehensive education of Tulane medical students in the practice of primary care and ambulatory medicine.
- Residency and continuing medical education programs in primary care.
- The organization and delivery of effective, patient-oriented, primary care services to the community.
- Interdisciplinary collaboration, scholarship and research in the areas of medical education, health services delivery, primary care and preventive medicine.
The Department is actively involved in medical education through both the third-year family medicine clerkship and the preventive medicine residency program. The Family Medicine clerkship began as a pilot program in 1998-99 and became a required course in 2000. The clerkship, which has been supported in its development by an HRSA grant program, allows third year medical students to have the opportunity to learn primary care and ambulatory medicine by working with community based family physicians. These family physicians, called preceptors, are volunteer faculty members who have been recruited and trained as clerkship teachers. Currently, over 170 preceptors - many serving rural or under-served populations - are part of a network covering the geographical region within a 300 mile radius of metropolitan New Orleans.
Family and Community Medicine provides experiences to fourth year medical students, offering an opportunity to become familiar with the complex aspects of the modern medical practice, and to participate in a clinical experiences in both local and distant community-based settings. Elective rotations include Family Medicine preceptorships, international health, occupational and preventive medicine, and hospice care.
The Preventive Medicine Residency is part of the Department of Family and Community Medicine. The department collaborates with Louisiana family medicine residency programs as part of its teaching and research missions.
New developments in the department include building a distance learning program to allow students and preceptors to access clerkship and continuing education materials from remote locations. In addition, the department is committed to exposing our students to rural communities and promoting a rural primary care workforce.
