The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Educational Program for Clinical and Community Issues in Primary Care is a series of educational materials and activities designed to interest health professional students and practicing clinicians in providing culturally competent primary care services to medically underserved communities. It was developed in response to the need to effectively prepare and encourage current and future generalist practitioners to provide medical care to disenfranchised populations. The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) Foundation, under contract with the NHSC, updated and added modules to the original set developed by AMSA for the NHSC in 1981. These modules were developed by experts in the field, with input from health professional students, educators and primary care providers from underserved practices.

Introduction

Learning Modules:

The Discussion Leader Guide—Outlines teaching methods for clinicians with limited experience in leading group discussions.
Developed by Janina Levy, M.P.H., Medical Education Consultant, Chicago, Illinois.

Adolescent Health—Provides discussion of office-based health promotion for adolescents, smoking cessation, sexually transmitted diseases, chronic illnesses and suicide among adolescents.
Developed by Richard Kreipe, M.D., Chief, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Children's Hospital at Strong, Rochester, New York.

Adolescent Pregnancy—Offers discussion topics on the physical, psychosocial and educational needs of pregnant adolescents, the use of community resources for successful patient management and care of the adolescent family after the baby is born, and prevention of adolescent pregnancies.
Developed by Catherine Stevens-Simon, M.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Adolescent Medicine, University of Colorado Health Science Center, Denver, Colorado.

Aging—-Addresses the functional assessment, polypharmacy, dementia, depression and homelessness among the elderly.
Developed by Patricia P. Barry, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Gerontology Center, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, and Elizabeth W. Markson, Ph.D., Associate Director, Gerontology Center, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.

Child Abuse, Neglect and Domestic Violence—Addresses topics of child sexual abuse, child physical abuse, adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse and domestic violence.
Developed by Carole Jenny, M.D., M.B.A., Director, Child Advocacy Protection Team, and Associate Professor of Pediatrics, The Children's Hospital, Denver, Colorado.

Cross Cultural Issues in Primary Care—Provides opportunities to discuss cultural competency, ethnocentrism, communication skills, traditional medicine, and environmental and economic conditions affecting health care.
Developed by Robert T. Trotter, II, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, and the National Center for Cultural Healing, Reston, Virginia.

Ethics—Discusses confidentiality issues such as disclosing HIV status to a partner, ethical issues such as child abuse and coin rubbing, aid in dying and physician-assisted suicide.
Developed by Robert Fost, M.D., Professor, Pediatrics and History of Medicine, Director, Program in Medical Ethics, University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical School, Madison, Wisconsin, and Jerry Menikoff, M.D., J.D., Assistant Professor of Law, Ethics and Medicine, Department of History and Philosophy of Medicine, the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas.

HIV/AIDS—Provides discussion on prevention, early intervention, management of common opportunistic infections and long-term care.
Developed by William R. Brandon, M.D., M.P.H., Project Director, Delta Region AIDS Education and Training Center, Louisiana State University Medical School, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Mental Health—Offers discussion of schizophrenia, depression, perceptions of mental illness, traumatic events, and patient-clinician relationships.
Developed by Stephen M. Goldfinger, M.D., Clinical Director, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston, Massachusetts and Kenneth Duckworth, M.D., Director, Hospital Services, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston, Massachusetts.

Oral Health—Provides discussion of oral manifestations of HIV/AIDS, oral cancer, and rampant infant and early childhood caries.
Developed by Herschel S. Horowitz, D.D.S., M.P.H., Consultant, Dental Research and Public Health, Bethesda, Maryland.

Personal and Professional Development—Focuses on helping students and residents make decisions about the practice type and community setting, communication, recruitment, team building, and handling stress and other challenges in the health care environment.
Developed by Warren S. Feld, Dr.P.H., M.C.R.P., Consultant, Nashville, Tennessee, Les Wallace, President, Signature Resources, Aurora, Colorado, and Janina Levy, M.P.H., Medical Education Consultant, Chicago, Illinois.

Substance Abuse—Provides discussion on chemical dependence as a medical illness, cultural and gender issues in substance abuse, and chemical dependence among health professionals.
Developed by Donnie W. Watson, Ph.D., Director, Cork Institute on Black Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, James F. Calvert, Jr., M.D., Program Director, Cascades East AHEC Family Medicine Residency, Klamath Falls, Oregon, and James Finch, M.D., Medical Director, Addiction Services, Durham County Mental Health, Durham, North Carolina.

Selecting a Residency Program in an Underserved Community—A booklet for medical students describing the options for graduate training in community-based practices. Provides guidance on selecting programs with longitudinal training in community-responsive practices. (Not in case study format.)
Developed by American Medical Student Association/Foundation, Reston, Virginia.

A Precepting Guide—A guidebook that outlines the roles and responsibilities for health professions preceptors, students, and faculty in developing, conducting and evaluating a clinical experience in a community setting. (Not in case study format.)
Developed by Janina Levy, M.P.H., Medical Education Consultant, Cook County Hospital, Chicago, Illinois and Sheila Koch, M.M.C., former Project Associate, American Medical Student Association/Foundation, Reston, Virginia.