1. Community-Based Education
Using Service-Learning to Teach Community
Health: The Morehouse School of Medicine
Community Health Course
Ayanna V. Buckner, MD, MPH, Yassa D. Ndjakani, MD, MPH, Bahati Banks, MBA,
and Daniel S. Blumenthal, MD, MPH
Abstract
Medical education is evolving to include Health Course (CHC) that entails The authors describe the course and
more community-based training conducting a community health needs offer data from the course’s past 11
opportunities. Most frequently, third- assessment and developing, years. Data include the types of
and fourth-year medical students have implementing, and evaluating a collaborating community sites, the
access to these opportunities. However, community health promotion community health issues addressed, and
introducing community-based learning to intervention. In teams, students conduct the interventions implemented and
medical students earlier in their training health needs assessments in the fall, and evaluated. The MSM CHC has provided
may provide a more formative experience in the spring they develop interventions students with an opportunity to obtain
that guides their perspectives as they in response to the problems they hands-on experience in collaborating
enter clinical clerkships. Few known identified through the needs with diverse communities to address
courses of this type exist for first-year assessments. At the end of each community health. Students gain insight
medical students. semester, students present their findings, into how health promotion interventions
outcomes, and policy recommendations and community partnerships can improve
Since 1998, the Morehouse School of at a session attended by other students, health disparities. The MSM CHC is a
Medicine (MSM) has required first-year course faculty, and community model that other medical schools across
students to take a yearlong Community stakeholders. the country can use to train students.
Medical school curricula are incorporate community concerns into engaging in risky behaviors.9 The changes
constantly evolving to prepare young health care delivery. In recent years, in the provider occur through the
physicians-in-training to be able to medical educators have placed more combination of service tasks and structured
provide high-quality health care within attention on equipping medical students opportunities that link the service task to
dynamic medical systems that often and residents with the tools to self-reflection, self-discovery, and the
struggle to balance care for poor and incorporate the community in their acquisition and comprehension of values,
underserved communities with economic delivery of primary health care.1–5 skills, and knowledge content.
solvency. In this context, teaching However, medical curricula are still not
medical students community medicine fully adequate for preparing students to Recognizing the significance of service-
means teaching them to employ public meet the demands that they will face in learning in medical education, the Liaison
health approaches while caring for serving poor, underserved communities. Committee on Medical Education (LCME)
individuals. Students do not learn revised its accreditation standards in July
through traditional curricula to 2008 to include a new standard on service-
One approach to teaching future clinicians
learning, stating that medical schools
the skills they need to serve communities is
should not only make available sufficient
“service-learning.”6,7 Service-learning is a
Dr. Buckner is assistant professor, Department of opportunities for medical students to
teaching and learning strategy that
Community Health and Preventive Medicine, participate in service-learning activities but
Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia. integrates meaningful community service
also encourage and support student
with instruction and reflection to enrich
Dr. Ndjakani is assistant professor, Department of participation.10 The LCME suggests that
Community Health and Preventive Medicine, the learning experience, teach civic
medical schools provide information about
Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia. responsibility, and strengthen
available service-learning opportunities,
Ms. Banks is a staff member, Office of Institutional
communities. Service-learning combines develop service-learning opportunities in
Advancement & Marketing and Communications, service objectives and learning objectives partnership with relevant communities,
Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia. with the intent that the activity will change offer students credit for participating in
Dr. Blumenthal is professor, Department of both the recipient and the provider of the service-oriented activities and courses, and
Community Health and Preventive Medicine, service. Research has shown that students hold presentations or public forums to
Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
engaged in service-learning showed an highlight and recognize service-learning
Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. increase in the degree to which they felt
Buckner, Morehouse School of Medicine, 720 activities.
Westview Drive, SW, NCPC Suite 335-C, Atlanta, GA
aware of community needs, believed they
30310-1495; telephone: (404) 752-1517; fax: (404) could make a difference, and were Learning the tools of community health
752-1160; e-mail: abuckner@msm.edu. committed to service in the future,8 and needs assessment and health promotion
Acad Med. 2010;85:1645–1651. communities involved in service-learning and having an opportunity to exercise
doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181f08348 have shown decreased numbers of people these skills can prepare students to
Academic Medicine, Vol. 85, No. 10 / October 2010 1645
2. Community-Based Education
deliver care to communities as well as populations in Georgia and across the and evaluating a health promotion
individual patients.2 Community health nation and to address primary health care intervention. Spring lectures also address
needs assessments are used to identify the needs through programs in education, the relationship between public health and
strengths and needs of the community, to research, and service. MSM requires the public policy.
establish community health priorities, Community Health Course (CHC) for all
and to facilitate collaborative action first-year medical students. Originally Groups of 10 to 14 students and two
planning directed at improving taught as a series of individual, discrete faculty facilitators are assigned to
community health status and quality of classroom lectures, it became a community sites at the start of each
life.11 Some examples of community community-based service-learning course academic year. Classes occur at
health needs assessment tools include in 1998.16 The course engages first-year community sites that the faculty
focus groups and surveys. Health medical students, faculty members, and facilitators of each small group have
promotion is the process of enabling community-based organizations in selected either through their own prior
people to increase their control over and service-learning and community service. experiences or through referrals from
improve their own health.12 We believe other faculty members or community
that educating physicians early in their contacts. Faculty select sites on the basis
training and giving them an opportunity The CHC at MSM of each site’s involvement with and
to practice their skills in a service The CHC is a two-semester course that commitment to low-income and
environment may be one factor leading provides students with the opportunity to underserved populations, the site’s
to the greater incorporation of public analyze the health, health problems, geographic location (located in
health in health care delivery. Whereas and the delivery of health services in metropolitan Atlanta), the site
students learn primary care medicine in underserved communities. The course’s administration’s willingness to facilitate
medical school, exposure to community topics of study comprise community health involving its staff and the community it
settings is often sparse in the first two analysis, health-related behavior, and serves in the health needs assessment and
years of medical education, which are community health promotion. intervention, the availability of a
largely focused on the basic sciences. We Instructional methods include hands-on community liaison who can serve as a
feel that early exposure to or familiarity community activities in a small-group primary contact for the course faculty
with community medicine may inspire setting, group discussions, reading and and students, and the availability of on-
more physicians to specialize in primary writing assignments, and introductory site weekly meeting space for the course
care or community medicine or to lectures. Students receive classroom faculty and students. Each site’s
integrate community-based medicine instruction in two 3-hour sessions at the community liaison agrees to work with
principles into their chosen specialty. beginning of each semester. As a the faculty facilitators and students for
foundation for the health promotion the entire year. These community liaisons
Some medical trainees have the activities in the course, the two fall lectures may be, for example, a school principal
opportunity to participate in community focus on viewing the community as a or guidance counselor or the director or
experiences in their clinical clerkships, in patient (“Clinical Community Health”) program manager of a community
electives during the third and fourth and review theory on how the physician organization. The faculty facilitators are
years of medical school, or through will diagnose and treat the patient, that is, health professionals with experience in
residency programs.13–15 However, few the community. This CHC conceptual community health. At least one facilitator
courses of this type exist for preclinical framework is the converse of the well- in each group has an MD degree, and the
medical students, and studies that known “community-oriented primary other has a PhD or a master’s degree in
document the immersion of medical care” model, which uses public health public health or a related discipline.
students in the community during the concepts to guide the actions of
first two years of their training are lacking clinicians.17,18 In the CHC clinical concepts Small-group instruction emphasizes
in the literature. The purpose of this guide the actions of students engaged in the access and barriers to health services,
article is to describe a novel course that practice of public health. That is, students team collaboration, project evaluation,
both uses the service-learning construct gather subjective and objective data, community service, health promotion,
to expose preclinical medical students to compile a problem list, and formulate and and disease prevention. Each week,
the community setting and allows carry out a therapeutic plan, all in the students meet for a three-hour session
students to analyze the health problems manner of a clinician treating a patient.16 at their assigned community sites to
of the community and to design and To prepare students to adapt evidence- complete course objectives. The course
implement an intervention to address based health promotion activities for their meetings are factored into the students’
identified community problems. communities, fall lecture topics also include curriculum schedule and do not interfere
performing searches of the medical with the time that students spend in their
Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) literature and instruction on critiquing other required courses. Students are
was founded to train students for careers articles. For the remainder of the fall responsible for arranging and organizing
as primary care physicians who will semester, students use a team-based their weekly course activities (course
practice in medically underserved areas approach for the community assessments activities described below), while faculty
among populations of minorities and/or and the required presentations (Table 1). In leaders serve as group facilitators, guiding
populations with low socioeconomic the spring semester, students receive groups toward completion of weekly
status. MSM’s curriculum reflects the instruction on writing program objectives, tasks. In addition to completing the
institution’s commitment both to on constructing and understanding logic actual assessment activities in the fall
support the underserved urban and rural models, and on designing, implementing, semester and implementing the
1646 Academic Medicine, Vol. 85, No. 10 / October 2010
3. Community-Based Education
measurable, achievable, relevant, and
Table 1 time bound. As with the needs
Timeline of the Community Health Course at the Morehouse School of Medicine assessments, creativity is paramount in
designing interventions at sites that have
Timing Activity or activities—Students…
been long-standing community partners.
Fall semester
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Because students must design a
Weeks 1–3 ѧ attend lectures community intervention based on their
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Weeks 4–5 ѧ begin meeting at community site and conduct key informant needs assessment, they may not merely
interviews continue the work of previous students.
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Weeks 6–8 ѧ conduct focus group interviews and plan surveys If the needs assessment dictates an
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Week 7 ѧ submit their journal critiques expansion on previous students’ work,
......................................................................................................................................................................................................... the faculty facilitators challenge the
Weeks 8–9 ѧ conduct their surveys and start their community engagement
activities students to be creative in designing an
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Weeks 10–11 ѧ conduct their data analyses and share the results of their needs
intervention that is unique yet effective in
assessment with community liaisons and leaders meeting the community’s needs. Students
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Weeks 12–13 ѧ prepare their presentations and papers also design an evaluation of their
......................................................................................................................................................................................................... intervention. In most instances, they
Week 13 ѧ submit their papers
......................................................................................................................................................................................................... use brief pretest and posttest surveys to
Week 14 ѧ give their presentations to course faculty, community stakeholders,
assess knowledge change, but faculty
and other students
encourage students to also collect
Spring semester satisfaction and/or process data.
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Week 1 ѧ attend lectures Chart 1 provides a sample student
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Weeks 2–12 ѧ plan and revise their interventions needs assessment and intervention
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Weeks 2–13 ѧ conduct community engagement activities from the MSM CHC.
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Weeks 6–13 ѧ conduct their community interventions
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Weeks 14–16 ѧ conduct their data analyses and prepare their final papers and Student Assessment
presentations
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................
Week 16 ѧ submit their final papers and give their presentations to course Faculty facilitators assess student learning
faculty, community stakeholders, and other students and service through multiple-choice
examinations, fall and spring semester
intervention activities in the spring them the opportunity to make subjective group papers, fall and spring semester
semester, the students spend weekly and objective evaluations that include presentations, class participation, and
course time planning these activities. descriptions of the community and any completion of a reflection journal. All
During the weeks of planning, dedicated evidence of trends, stability, or changes students in the group receive the same
course time also allows the students to that may contribute to the health of the grade for the group papers and
interact with community representatives population. Other fall semester activities presentations, but students receive
and provide community service. In the include student-conducted key informant individual grades for class participation,
CHC, we refer to these interactions with interviews, (i.e., interviews with integral journal entries, and their performance on
the community and/or community community stakeholders) and, usually examinations. Students complete three
representatives as “community following these, focus groups and reflection journal entries each semester;
engagement activities.” As a group, the community surveys. Although all in each journal entry, they answer
students determine the focus of their students in the course must complete predetermined questions (e.g., “Describe
community engagement activities; the the same components of the needs your experience at your community site,”
focus is largely site dependent. For assessment, faculty facilitators encourage “What were your initial perceptions?”,
example, groups assigned to schools or them to be creative in their approach to “What are some of the general
after-school programs frequently doing so. Sometimes students collect stereotypes or misconceptions you’ve
participate in tutoring. In keeping with other information—for instance, had?”, and “Has your experience at your
the principles of service-learning,6 the anthropometric (i.e., height and weight) site supported or refuted these
students reflect on their experiences data on elementary school children. stereotypes?”). Faculty facilitators read
through scheduled journal entries and the reflection journals of the students in
group discussions. Students continue working in their small their group. Although the students do
groups at community sites during the not receive subjective comments on their
Table 1 provides a timeline of course spring semester, planning, implementing, responses, they do receive a grade
activities. During the fall semester, faculty and evaluating a health promotion (complete or incomplete) for answering
facilitators guide students through intervention that addresses one or more the questions. The multiple-choice
the community needs assessment of the community health issues identified examinations take place once per
methodology by engaging the students in during the fall semester. The students semester and are based on the
a variety of assessment activities. The begin by revisiting the needs assessment introductory lectures that students
assessment begins with a “windshield to determine components for their spring receive at the start of each semester.
survey”—that is, the students conduct a intervention. They write objectives for Lecturers submit three to four questions
visual assessment while they drive the intervention, using the SMART per lecture. The two faculty facilitators
through the community. The drive allows model: Their objectives must be specific, assigned to each group decide their
Academic Medicine, Vol. 85, No. 10 / October 2010 1647
4. Community-Based Education
first-year medical students that included
Chart 1 a focus on biostatistics, epidemiology,
Sample Student Needs Assessment and Intervention From the Morehouse and health disparities. It included lectures
School of Medicine Community Health Course given by MSM faculty and faculty from
the Centers for Disease Control and
Needs assessment Prevention. In 1991, MSM received a
Community site: grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Local church to expand this course. The grant proposal
Windshield survey*: was written based on the Area Health
Conducted in a 10-mile radius of the church
Education Centers (AHEC) program
Key informant for key informant interviews:
model, which included partnerships
• Priest
between medical schools and
• Health ministry leaders communities. AHEC’s mission is to
enhance access to quality health care,
• Teen group advisors particularly primary and preventive care,
• Deacon
by improving the supply and distribution
of health care professionals through
• Lay members (e.g., president of the church parish council, president of the men’s community/academic educational
group, member of the committee that developed the church’s strategic vision, partnerships.19 The U.S. Congress
member of the senior citizen’s group) developed the AHEC program to recruit,
train, and retain a health professions
Focus group:
Two conducted: One group with adults and one group with teens
workforce committed to underserved
Survey: populations.20 With the support of the
Distributed to all parishioners at morning church service and midday church service W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant, the
course designers created the original
Intervention iteration in conjunction with faculty and
Wellness initiative: students from local nursing schools, a
Entitled “A New Year, A New You” theological center, and a school of social
• Nutrition and exercise intervention: Part 1—focused on healthy cooking and work. Although its interdisciplinary
exercise demonstrations (conducted at Week 7) nature was a strength, the course
• Teen conference focused on coping with stress and healthy communication experienced several challenges, including
(conducted at Week 9) the difficulties of identifying community
faculty who could design educational
• Nutrition and exercise intervention: Part 2—focused on the spiritual basis of lectures of graduate school quality,
healthy eating, a healthy promotion scavenger hunt, and a healthy food potluck coordinating multiple presentations
(conducted at Week 10) while avoiding redundant material, and
identifying community presenters who
understood the course’s relevance to
* A windshield survey is an activity during which students drive through the community whose needs they plan to medical school education. In 1998,
assess in order to observe and do an initial observation-only-based assessment.
the course coordinator and faculty
redesigned the course using the service-
students’ participation grades through • a summary of the leading health-related learning construct and emphasizing the
consensus. Participation grades are based community concerns including the training of only medical students. The
on weekly attendance, contribution to consequences of these public health redesigned course received funding
weekly discussions and course activities, concerns and the local resources from the Corporation for National and
and interaction with colleagues and available to the community Community Service. Group leaders are
community partners. All 10 to 14 primarily faculty from the Department of
students in a group contribute to the Community Health and Preventive
The spring semester papers and
group papers, but they are divided into Medicine. Over the years, the course
presentations offer descriptions and
smaller subgroups of two or three faculty has expanded to include one
evaluations of the student-conducted
students for the presentations. The faculty member from the MSM
interventions. Each semester, the students
papers are limited to 3,000 to 3,750 Department of Pediatrics who has
give their presentations (of 20 minutes,
words, excluding tables, figures, and extensive community-based experience
followed by a 5- to 10-minute question-
appendices. All of the fall papers and and several staff members from public
and-answer period) to an audience
presentations include a description of the health organizations such as the Centers
composed of other students, course faculty,
community needs assessment and detail for Disease Control and Prevention.
and community stakeholders.
• community demographics and assets,
A Review of the Community
• morbidity and mortality data, Development of the Program Projects
• socioeconomic factors that impact As in most U.S. medical schools, MSM In the first 11 years of the CHC (1999 –
health, and had a required lecture-based course for 2010), over 500 students conducted 56
1648 Academic Medicine, Vol. 85, No. 10 / October 2010
5. Community-Based Education
community interventions—all in community partners to improve their both integral parts of the CHC—also
metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. The health. address the Healthy People Curriculum
students established partnerships with the Task Force’s Community Aspects of
Atlanta Housing Authority, the Boys and A CHC can also expose medical students Practice component,22 which is designed
Girls Club of Metro Atlanta, Atlanta to the common health issues (e.g., poor to reflect both clinical prevention and
Public Schools (grades K–12), Headstart, nutrition/obesity, substance abuse, and a population health.
and other smaller grassroots organizations lack of sexual health education/resources)
(e.g., churches and neighborhood experienced by adults, adolescents, and Service-learning opportunities for
groups). The two leading health children in various communities. Many medical students are becoming more
problems the students identified through of the problems the students diagnose common; as mentioned, the LCME now
their health needs assessments were the each semester also mirror the leading mandates that they be made available for
prevalence of violence and substance health indicators associated with Healthy students who wish to experience them.
abuse (usually identified as comorbid by People 2010.1,21 These indicators reflect MSM’s CHC differs from most of these
the community and thus considered a the major health concerns in the United in that it is required of all first-year
single problem in this analysis [12 States at the beginning of the 21st students (rather than offered as an
assessments]) and the lack of community century. These concerns are important elective) and thus introduces all students,
development (including unemployment, public health issues, and their significance including those who would not have
deteriorating housing, and lack of as relevant health disparities is reflected pursued it otherwise, to a community
security [12 assessments]). Other leading by the fact that the students ascertained health experience. Further, where
health problems identified in the health the necessity for interventions for similar required courses or clerkships do exist,
needs assessments included low literacy problems each year. either they focus on “community
rates (10 assessments), obesity and diagnosis” alone24 (or conversely, they
nutrition (8 assessments), chronic Several organizations, including the require a community project without the
diseases such as asthma (8 assessments) Association of American Medical needs assessment component25) or they are
and hypertension (3 assessments), and Colleges (AAMC), the Healthy People classroom-based courses that are closely
adolescent sexual health (3 assessments). Curriculum Task Force convened by the tied to epidemiology and traditional
Interventions included educational Association for Prevention Teaching and population health experiences.26 We are not
programs, health fairs, and policy Research (formerly the Association of aware of any other required course in a U.S.
initiatives. Some examples of Teachers of Preventive Medicine), and or Canadian medical school that provides
interventions include dental, physical the Association of Academic Health the full spectrum of community
fitness, and parent education workshops, Centers, have delineated standards for assessment, intervention, and evaluation
tutoring sessions to address the low integrating population health into the for first-year medical students.
literacy levels, and sexual health training of health professions students.22,23
education workshops for teenagers. No The AAMC has asserted that physicians Over the span of the CHC, the
data are available regarding the effect of must collaborate with other health partnerships with the community have
the CHC on student perceptions during professionals and individuals enabled us to mobilize more than 500
clinical preceptorships or after graduation; representing a wide variety of community medical students to address the health
however, anecdotal experience and agencies to use systematic approaches disparities of underserved youth and
informal feedback suggest that students for promoting, maintaining, and adults by providing responsive health
refer to their CHC experience if/when they improving the health of individuals and promotion intervention projects
choose primary care residencies and that populations.23 Through participating in throughout metropolitan Atlanta.
many graduates integrate community the CHC, MSM students collaborate both Each year, the community sites have
service into their practice. with peers and with community members responded very favorably to the students.
and work with a team. We feel that Community sites typically return each
through the course they learn skills that year to participate in the program, even
The Significance of Preclinical ease their transition into clinical rotations though none of the sites, community
Community Health Training as upper-level medical students and members, or administrators receive
This description of the CHC and review residents, and we hope they will gain compensation or honoraria for
of the first 11 years of CHC data suggest proficiencies that may help them participating. Existing organizations (i.e.,
that a medical school course focused on function better as physicians as the parent auxiliaries and parent–teacher
community health and service-learning medical model moves toward organizations at schools) at the
can expose students to community needs multidisciplinary approaches to patient community sites have sought
assessments and health promotion management. By performing needs opportunities to collaborate with the
interventions in a variety of community assessments and designing interventions students, frequently scheduling their
settings. When incorporated into the for underserved communities, students activities to coincide with the student-
medical school curriculum, a CHC can in the CHC address the AAMC’s planned interventions. The community
provide an opportunity for medical objective that medical students sites receive, at no cost, the results of the
students to obtain hands-on community understand the economic, social, and community needs assessments, and they
engagement experiences. These courses cultural factors that contribute to the benefit from an intervention designed by
can provide medical students with the conditions that impact health.23 The students in response to that assessment,
knowledge and skills to assess the health assessments of community needs and but they receive no financial benefits
of the community and to collaborate with strengths as well as the interventions— other than the nominal budget ($500 –
Academic Medicine, Vol. 85, No. 10 / October 2010 1649
6. Community-Based Education
$600) that each group uses to support the consideration. Although effective and 5 Carney JK, Hackett R. Community–academic
assessments and interventions. easily implemented educational programs partnerships: A “community-first” model to
teach public health. Education for Health.
such as this course may contribute to 2008;21(1). Available at: http://www.education
We feel that MSM students and faculty improving the education of future forhealth.net/publishedarticles/article_print_
serve as role models to the youth and physicians, further study is needed to 166.pdf. Accessed June 10, 2010.
young adults in the community; for assess student and community 6 Seifer SD. Service-learning: Community–
example, for more than four years, perceptions of the course as well as its campus partnerships for health professions
education. Acad Med. 1998;73:273–277.
students in the CHC have implemented a long-term effectiveness. Additional 7 Mohan CP, Mohan A. HealthSTAT: A
series of life skills, substance abuse, and research is also needed to investigate the student approach to building skills needed to
sexual health education workshops for impact that the CHC has on community serve poor communities. J Health Care Poor
youth who live in public housing. health status, the continuity or Underserved. 2007;18:523–531.
Following the end of the course, some of sustainability of student interventions, 8 Melchior A. Summary Report: National
Evaluation of Learn and Serve America.
the medical students have continued the specialties chosen by CHC medical Waltham, Mass: Brandeis University, Center
their relationships with the youth whom students, the types of communities in for Human Resources; 1999. Available at:
they mentored. We also hope that which they choose eventually to practice, http://www.learnandserve.gov/pdf/lsa_
community partners feel more and the degree to which they use the evaluation.pdf. Accessed July 6, 2010.
empowered to make health decisions and knowledge and skills gained from their 9 Kirby D. Emerging Answers: Research
Findings on Programs to Reduce Teen
to become advocates for their own health. CHC experiences. Pregnancy. Washington, DC: National
Evaluations from student interventions Acknowledgments: The authors wish to thank Dr. Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy; 2001.
reveal short-tem behavior changes such Meryl McNeal and the staff of the Center for 10 Liaison Committee on Medical Education.
as increased physical activity and making Community Health and Service-Learning at the LCME Accreditation Standards. IS-14-A.
Available at: http://www.lcme.org/functionslist.
healthier food choices. We hope that Morehouse School of Medicine. The authors also
htm. Accessed June 10, 2010.
these behaviors continue in the long wish to thank Dr. George Rust and the staff in the
11 Manitoba Health. Community Health Needs
term. Through the course, MSM has Faculty Development Program at the Morehouse
Assessment Guidelines. Available at: http://
School of Medicine.
strengthened its partnerships with www.chssn.org/En/pdf/networking/
Atlanta community organizations and Funding/Support: The Morehouse School of community%20health%20assessment.pdf.
Medicine Community Health Course has been Accessed July 2, 2010.
remains poised to respond to the 12 World Health Organization. Ottawa Charter
funded in part by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
developing needs of the community. and the Corporation for National and for Health Promotion. First International
Community Service. Conference on Health Promotion. Ottawa, 21
November 1986 –WHO/HPR/HEP/95.1.
CHC Funding and Support Other disclosures: Dr. Blumenthal serves on the Available at: http://www.who.int/hpr/NPH/
board of directors of the Southeastern Primary docs/ottawa_charter_hp.pdf. Accessed July 2,
The course is faculty-intensive; at least Care Consortium/Atlanta Area Health Education 2010.
eight faculty members devote a half-day Center, which provided some financial support 13 Andrus NC, Bennett NM. Developing an
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grant funding from the Corporation for Ethical approval: The Community Health Course Med. 2006;81:326 –331.
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information about the Morehouse School of 15 McIntosh S, Block RC, Kapsak G, Pearson
AHEC program; the MSM AHEC TA. Training medical students in community
program is 1 of 54 nationally. The Atlanta Medicine Community Health Course on
health: A novel required fourth-year clerkship
February 22, 2007, at the American College of
AHEC program has helped implement at the University of Rochester. Acad Med.
Preventive Medicine “Preventive Medicine 2007”
the course through support of 2008;83:357–364.
meeting in Miami, Florida.
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Evaluating a community-based
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