Community-orientated medical education: extending the boundaries

Community-orientated medical practice has become an integral pan of the mor e recent undergraduate curricula, newly emerging as a result of the GMC rec ommendations for medical education in the future. In most of the courses, s tudents' community activity focuses around the general practitioner and imm ediate primary care facilities. As part of an integrated community course a t Liverpool, second-year students are asked to spend a period of time outsi de the confines of primary care in the wider community. This paper describe s the course and its evaluation by students. The advantages and disadvantag es perceived by the students are described, potential outcomes are identifi ed and future improvements are highlighted.