Design of the Community Health Management Courses
The medical curriculum contains several Community Health Management (CHM) courses that make it truly a community-oriented, if not community-based curriculum.
There are a total of eight CHM courses in the entire 4-year curriculum (see table below). In the first three years, there is a 2-week CHM course in each semester. On the last year, the CHM courses runs for 4 months per semester.
A small group of students (5-10) are assigned to a community for the CHM courses. The community assignment for a particular group is the same all throughout the CHM courses.
For each group, there is a community preceptor. This preceptor is part of the faculty of the medical school.
Each group of students is assigned a barangay (smaller groups are assigned puroks within a barangay) to minister under the guidance of the preceptor.
The general activities consist of a community diagnosis and formulation of a 4-year comprehensive community health plan in CHM I, a design of an action-research proposal on an identified community health problem in CHM II, and implementation in CHM III - VIII. The expected output at the end of the CHM courses is a documented solution of a health problem in the community.
Beside the community health management activities, the students are expected to apply the various biomedical and social health sciences they have learned in the school. They practice medicine in the community. They manage a health care unit. They conduct public health education. They continue to learn through problem-based and self-directed approaches.
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