Community health centers: Unrecognized partners in health professions education

Increasing demand for health professionals with training in ambulatory and primary care practice is placing stress on existing training site capacity. Community health centers can serve as model training sites, offering compr ehensive multidisciplinary health care services and teaching clinician role models. In this study, 32 Illinois community and migrant health centers an d federally qualified health centers were surveyed to assess their involvem ent with training in the past three years. Thirty centers had offered train ing to students from many disciplines, with nursing (27 centers) and medici ne (24) the most frequent. Most centers had established formal relationship s with training institutions but generally had limited involvement with cou rse planning. Continued participation will likely require adequate funding, with some centers also seeking stronger institutional relationships and be tter integration of community health issues. Educators and policy makers ma y need to fake a more active role in supporting centers, acquiring funds, a nd other enabling factors.