Because you come to the Family Medicine Clerkship with varied prior medical education experiences, plus varied prior experiences in other health professions and non-medical professions,  and still others directly from an undergraduate educational institution, each student will need to identify their specific strengths and learning needs.  Further, your Family Medicine experiences will also vary from site to site.  Thus, the "Learner Contract", found at http://www.med.und.nodak.edu/depts/fammed/Clerkship/learnercontract.htm. becomes a usefule tool for planning your learning for the upcoming weeks. 

The initial meeting between you and your preceptor should be one of information exchange, using information about your learning needs as gleaned from the Clinical Skills Inventory, found at http://www.med.und.nodak.edu/depts/fammed/Clerkship/clinicalskills.htm.  Review the Learner Contract weekly to monitor your progress and change direction if indicated.  At the end of week four it would benefit both you and preceptor to review your progress, using both the Learner Contract and the "Preceptor Evaluation of Student Performance" for found at https://survey.med.nodak.edu/ome/Clerk/stuassessfm.asp.  Other points of discussion may include, but are not limited to:

1. Expectations for case presentations, patient management, responsibilities.

2. Arrangements for the student to:

a. be introduced to the functional units of the local health care system,
b. meet with the various health professionals within the system,
c. meet with the business and administrative personnel of the clinic,
d. be appraised of local medical/educational information resources.

3. The preceptor's approach to:

a. health care,
b. interaction with the health care system,
c. continuing education,
d. community responsibilities.

4. The daily patient schedule for the clinic and hospital.

5. The on-call schedule

    - every fourth night is the accepted norm

   - a limit established by various governing bodies, and approved by UNDSMHS, is no 

      more than as average of 80 hours per week during a four or eight week clerkship.

6. Allotted time to study and complete research (allow one-half day per week).

7. Community education opportunities.

8. Set time and expectations for mid-clerkship formative evaluation.