Department of Family, Community, and Rural Health, The Commonwealth Medical College, Scranton, Pennsylvania 18509, USA.
Am J Prev Med. 2011 Oct;41(4 Suppl 3):S220-7. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2011.05.027.
A century ago, the Flexner Report challenged U.S. medical schools to critically evaluate their curricula in order to nurture physicians equipped to meet the needs of an evolving society. Recently, medical educators have been charged to increase the emphasis on prevention, care of populations, public health, and community medicine. The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC) is a new MD-granting medical school inspired by and founded in response to a community need. The founders' vision was to recruit and train physicians to fill workforce needs in Northeast Pennsylvania. In its first few years, TCMC embarked on two major public health initiatives, the Regional Health Assessment and the Community Health Research Projects (CHRPs). The results of the health assessment have been used to guide TCMC's curricular development and research agenda. The CHRPs foster commitment to community involvement, regional engagement, and participatory research. TCMC partners with various organizations and community physicians to ensure that students learn (1) to apply knowledge and skills acquired through the course of their studies to public health research in varied settings; (2) the fundamentals of community engagement, collaboration, and service-based practice; and (3) to address the different needs of patient subgroups and populations. These programs provide opportunities for students to be active participants in community capacity building while achieving specific competencies in public health. Existing partnerships with community organizations are enhanced, strengthening the regional focus of the school. This model of incorporating public health into medical education can potentially be replicated in other institutions in the U.S. and internationally.
一个世纪前，《弗莱克斯纳报告》要求美国医学院校批判性地评估其课程，以培养能够满足不断发展的社会需求的医生。最近，医学教育工作者被要求更加重视预防、人群护理、公共卫生和社区医学。英联邦医学院（TCMC）是一所新的授予医学博士学位的医学院，它的灵感来自并响应社区的需求而成立。创始人的愿景是招募和培训医生，以满足宾夕法尼亚州东北部的劳动力需求。在最初的几年里，TCMC 开展了两项重大的公共卫生倡议，即区域健康评估和社区健康研究项目（CHRPs）。健康评估的结果被用于指导 TCMC 的课程开发和研究议程。CHRPs 促进了对社区参与、区域参与和参与式研究的承诺。TCMC 与各种组织和社区医生合作，确保学生学习：(1) 将通过课程学习获得的知识和技能应用于不同环境下的公共卫生研究；(2) 社区参与、合作和基于服务的实践的基础知识；(3) 满足患者亚群和人群的不同需求。这些项目为学生提供了积极参与社区能力建设的机会，同时在公共卫生方面实现特定的能力。与社区组织的现有伙伴关系得到加强，增强了学校的区域重点。将公共卫生纳入医学教育的这种模式在美国和国际上的其他机构中具有潜在的可复制性。
