Medical College of Wisconsin Family and Community Medicine - Medical Student Education
Welcome to the Division of Medical Student Education for the Department of Family and Community Medicine! We are committed to teaching and representing the principles of Family Medicine in our courses and student enrichment opportunities.
Overview
Learning Communities
Learning communities are “intentional communities” that engage students and faculty to enhance learning through a common purpose, similar interests and learning experiences.
Our “student-type” Family Medicine Learning Community is focused on:
- Fostering interest in Family Medicine through mentoring opportunities
- Social activities and networking functions
Successful learning communities are collaborative. The faculty and staff in the DFCM Medical Student Education Division are dedicated to working with MCW student organizations and individual students to foster student connection, excellence, learning, leadership, and service.
FMLC Goal
The goal of our Family Medicine Learning Community (FMLC) is to foster student connection, excellence, learning, leadership and service in primary care and Family Medicine. The FMLC brings together students interested in Family Medicine across all four years of medical school with MCW Family Medicine faculty, residents and community family physicians. The objectives of the FMLC are to:
- Encourage students to explore the dynamic field of Family Medicine through formal and informal activities, working closely with each other and Family Physician mentors/advisors.
- Promote the balance of basic science knowledge with primary care competencies and decision-making skills through active learning.
- Support students in their professional development regardless of their ultimate specialty choice.
FMLC Opportunities and Activities
Below is a list of FMLC Opportunities:
- FMLC Saturday Free Clinic (two or three times a year, the Saturday Free clinic is staffed primarily by FMLC students and faculty)
- Service Learning; many of these opportunities are provided through MCW’s National Award-winning Family Medicine Student Association (FMSA). FMSA is a student-run organization that coordinates a number of worthwhile important community projects (including Tars Wars, Health Room Helper, Ready Set Fit, and Homeless Clinic). The DFCM provides a faculty liaison and staff support.
- Evidence-Based Medicine Journal Club
- Special Olympics Physical Day
- Social events, including the annual Helfaer Field softball game
- Pathway support, for projects with a Primary Care/Family Medicine emphasis
- Pathway support for literature reviews on topics important to primary care
FMLC Mentoring Network
The Department of Family and Community Medicine faculty are very eager to provide mentorship to students. Two ways that we do that are:
Pathway and Research Mentorship
Family and Community Medicine faculty mentor many students across all the MCW Pathways. Faculty also mentor summer research projects as well as offer two research electives. Students are invited to explore the Faculty Collaboration Database (link) to identify areas of faculty interest and reach out to faculty with shared interests. Depending on your pathway, your pathway directors may have additional recommendations of specific family medicine faculty with active projects.
Career Mentorship
We enjoy opportunities to share the exciting field of family medicine with you. Whether you are currently early in your specialty choice exploration and want to learn more about family medicine, or whether you have made the (fantastic) choice to apply to a family medicine residency and need mentorship in your application process, we are here for you. For students in their third year of medical school selecting their clinical advisor, please use the form below and we would be thrilled to match you with a clinical advisor to help you design your fourth-year schedule and provide mentorship through the residency application process. We are very excited to meet you!
We are always exploring new ways to bring faculty, staff, residents, and students together, so please fill out our Family Medicine Interest Form to receive information about upcoming events.
If you interested in meeting with a family medicine faculty member, please fill out the career mentorship form.
Meet Our Team
Family Medicine and Pathways
The goal of faculty in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at MCW is to provide Pathway students with early clinical opportunities/experiences to explore the exciting and diverse possibilities of Family Medicine/Primary Care. Direct patient care experiences, seminar series and service learning opportunities through-out the year provide ways to connect the basic sciences and the clinical environment while helping you meet pathway requirements for monthly non-core hours.
Family Medicine Faculty are involved in all nine MCW pathways. Students with an interest in primary care generally will choose a primary care faculty advisor since experiences will likely emphasize primary care concepts; however, Family Medicine faculty welcome all students as pathway advisees, regardless of career interest.
If you are interested in a Family Medicine advisor for your pathway, it is best to contact faculty advisor, Leslie Ruffalo, lruffalo@mcw.edu. She can help match you to an appropriate Family Medicine faculty member, based on your interests. Students in any pathway, with any faculty advisor from any department, are welcome to join us and participate in the FMLC.
Contact Us
Family Advisor for the Family Medicine Learning Community (FMLC): Leslie Ruffalo, PhD
(414) 955-8710 or (414) 955-4333 | lruffalo@mcw.edu
Required Family Medicine Clerkship
M3 & M4 Electives
The Department of Family & Community Medicine offers a variety of electives that exposes students to real life experiences and gives them the training and knowledge to a wide introduction of family medicine. Please visit the course catalog for current offered family medicine courses.
Electives are offered by the Department of Family and Community Medicine to medical students. Contact the Registrar's Office at (414) 955-8873 for more details.
To view the M4 course catalog, you must sign into OASIS. Additional information is available on the Registrar's website.
Electives Offered
M4 Required Acting internships and Ambulatory Rotations
During the Acting Internship rotations students will spend four weeks completing a rigorous hospital-based experience supervised and working closely with Family Medicine faculty and residents. Students will manage the short-term needs of acutely sick patients, diagnose, and implement plan of care and therapy based on assessment. Students will see patients independently and receive direct observation and feedback.
Please visit the course catalog to see M4 required family medicine course offerings.
Required Internships & Rotations
Visiting Senior Medical Students
MCW’s Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM) welcomes visiting U.S. senior medical students to register for our fourth-year electives. All electives are four weeks. The following electives will be posted to the VSLO (Visiting Student Learning Opportunities) platform in January 2023:
- Community Engagement with Structurally Marginalized Communities
- Family Medicine Medley
- Family Medicine as Counterculture
- Mastering Difficult Conversations
- Sports Medicine in Primary Care
- Women’s Health-Family Centered
- FM Elective
Learn more about visiting student offerings.
For more information about our visiting elective opportunities, please contact Stephanie Shaw (sshaw@mcw.edu).