The department of Family Medicine is one of the new departments in the Faculty of Clinical Sciences that officially started in 2017 with the then 500 level 2017/2018 clinical set. Family Medicine is a medical specialty that provides continuing, comprehensive and co-orodinated care to the undifferentiated patient within the context of his/her family and environment. It provides longitudinal care to individuals and families from cradle to grave irrespective of disease entity, organ involvement or gender. The philosophy of the Family Medicine MBBS programme is to produce medical doctors that can intergrade the knowledge and skills acquired in the various specialties, bearing in mind the family and the social dynamics of patient management at primary and secondary levels of health care. It is also to empower medical students with hands-on skills necessary to offer holistic, cost effective and family centered medical services at the primary care level.

ACADEMIC PROGRAMME

The objectives to be achieved at the end of the Family Medicine training include to:

1.  Develop clinical medical students that will be able to competently handle common health problems at the primary care level as medical practitioners with minimal supervision.
2. Develop clinical medical students that will be able to identify health problems that are appropriate to be managed at a primary care level and those that need to be referred
3.  Teach clinical medical students the use of Patient-centered clinical method of consultation;
4.  Produce medical graduates with good communication skills necessary to initiate and maintain excellent relationships with patients and their family members
5.  Produce medical graduates that have basic and scientific knowledge in Evidence based Complimentary and Alternative therapies in use in their local environments

Course Structure

The approved four (4) weeks posting in Family Medicine is broken down into two (2) weeks each at 500L and 600L respectively during the clinical COBES postings.

Teaching and Learning Methods

The course objectives shall be accomplished through:

• Lectures
• Tutorials
• Clinical demonstration & teaching during clinical rotations
• Clerking and presentation of clinical cases