The teaching of family medicine and general practice should aim to develop an appreciation of the unique nature and role of the specialty. Teachers should relate patient cases to the principles of family medicine. These principles include (1) compassionate care; (2) a generalist/holistic approach focusing on the whole person, family, and community; (3) continuity of relationship, i.e., building a patient-physician bond of trust; (4) reflective mindfulness; and (5) lifelong learning. The curriculum, instructional strategy, and assessment should be carefully aligned. Core competencies include patient-centered communication, physical examination skills, clinical procedures, palliative care, humanities in medicine, holistic care, shared decision-making, family therapy, home and community visits, chronic disease care, problem-based documentation, team-based care, data-driven improvement, information mastery, ethics and professionalism, and work-life balance. Family medicine/general practice is defined as the medical specialty that manages common and long-term illnesses, focusing on overall health and well-being. Hence, clerkship schedules should maximize clinical exposure and opportunities for self-reflection. A learner-centered approach should begin with a self-identified inventory of learning needs based on the curriculum; next, these needs should be chosen as topics for student presentations. Teaching methods should include mini-workshops: a combination of didactic lectures and small-group exercises. Individual face-to-face formative feedback should occur at midcourse and culminate in a group reflection on the learning experience. Clinical supervision should gradually decrease as each resident demonstrates safe patient care. Procedure skills training should be closely supervised, formally documented, and constitute about one-fourth of learning sessions.

Citations

• Competency evaluation using randomized testing: feasibility of a new structured assessment method
  M. Jawad Hashim, Alexander Kieu
  Advances in Physiology Education.2025; 49(3): 801.     CrossRef
• Use of audio-visual aids and case studies to enhance understanding of family medicine among medical students
  Stephen T. Engmann
  African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine.2024;[Epub]     CrossRef
• Guidelines for nutrition counseling in primary healthcare clinics
  Gyeongsil Lee, Seung-Won Oh
  Journal of the Korean Medical Association.2024; 67(4): 278.     CrossRef
• Disease prevention measures applicable to primary healthcare clinics
  Jae-Heon Kang
  Journal of the Korean Medical Association.2024; 67(4): 226.     CrossRef
• Perception of Family Medicine Residents on the Use of Small Group Discussion in Comparison to Standard Lectures
  Ahmed Mohammed Gharawi, Abdullah Mohammed Alateeq, Ghada Alarfaj, Ayman Afify, Saad Albatal, Alaa Alahmari, Mostafa Kofi
  European Journal of Contemporary Education and E-Learning.2024; 2(5): 3.     CrossRef
• Strengthening Primary Health Care through Medical Education
  Seung-Won Oh
  Korean Journal of Family Medicine.2023; 44(4): 181.     CrossRef