A model to structure student learning in ambulatory care settings.

Providing students with an explicit framework for conducting patients' follow-up visits can ease students' transition into ambulatory care settings and enhance their learning. The authors describe a model that structures and defines students' tasks for a follow-up office visit. The model gives priority to the organization of patient care issues, the efficient use of patient and preceptor time, and the student's identification of a learning agenda for each patient encounter. In a rapidly expanding managed care world where physician and practice productivity are paramount, this model has the potential to enhance standardization of learning across diverse clinical sites and to increase the cost-effectiveness of teaching medical students in ambulatory settings. The authors have introduced this model in a half-day orientation for a primary care clerkship. Initial feedback suggests that the model is useful in preparing students to function more effectively in an ambulatory care setting.