A clinical clerkship in a multicenter setting: an appraisal.

This paper describes the organization and evaluation of a third-year clerkship in obstetrics and gynecology conducted in a multiple-hospital setting. No difference was detected in objective test performance of students based on the site of the clerkship or in the subjective evaluation of students by faculty in the community hospitals. Students do spend their time in the various hospitals differently, but this seems more attributable to the individuality of specific hospitals than to the university-community dichotomy. PG 1 performance of graduates of the program compares favorably with that of graduates of other schools. It was concluded that community hospitals can carry out their primary responsibility of patient care while making an effective contribution to a university teaching program.