Redefining Student Learning Objectives for the General Medicine / Primary Care Clinical Clerkship ~ The Way to Implement Community Based Medical Education

Background: Mie University is one of the first medical schools to initiate a community-based clinical clerkship in general medicine. The curriculum was developed over fifteen years ago based on the personal expertise of the general medicine faculties. The purpose of this project is to update and revise the curriculum and learning objectives by integrating the ideas of community primary care physicians and university faculties involved in clinical clerkships. Methods: We have conducted semi-structured interviews with community primary care physicians. The interviews were based on keywords extracted from the preliminary research. Two researchers independently reviewed the free-coded interview transcripts, organized them into thematic units using thematic analysis, and then discussed and merged them into one list between the two researchers. This list was shared and discussed among the four researchers to create a new curriculum and learning objectives. Results: Nine primary care physicians participated in group interviews and 11 participated in individual interviews. The following themes were identified: 1.role of primary care 2.contextual care 3.hospital-clinic collaboration 4.multidisciplinary care/inter-professional work 5.work-life balance 6.health economics 7.health promotion 8.health policy 9.common problems/common diseases. Conclusion: We have redefined the learning objectives of the general medicine clinical clerkship. The abstracts have been made more specific, which will be more helpful for both teachers and learners.