Introduction

I teach my students that patients come to us as strangers, open their lives and secrets to us, telling us information that they may have never shared with anyone else, and have confidence in our ability to help, just because we are physicians. Anyone who cannot appreciate what an incredible gift this is has long since lost the soul of the physician.

-Steven Rothschild

Welcome to the Clinical Campus ``Primary Care Course,'' also sometimes known as ``Family Medicine Course'' or ``Family Practice Course.'' I'm looking forward to a productive year together. This manual is meant to convey the overall purpose of the course, and the logistical details, in an efficient manner. You should read the entire thing, and refer back to it if questions arise in the future.

This course will be unlike any rotation that you will experience in medical school, because there is nothing rotational about it. This is a longitudinal learning experience in which you will have the opportunity to build lasting relationships with patients. They will come to see you as ``their doctor,'' or at least ``their medical student.'' You will care for patients from the diagnosis of pregnancy to the first well-baby visit. You will care for patients from the diagnosis of a terminal illness to death. And you will care not just for individual patients, but for whole families. This sort of continuity of care is invaluable, because the doctor-patient relationship is the most therapeutic thing that we have to offer patients.

How do you know that you've built a relationship like this? When you find yourself thinking about one of your Primary Care patients, by name, on your own time, or during other rotations: ``I wonder how Mr. Jones is doing with his leg, and how the X-ray turned out?'' I hope that each and every one of you will be blessed with that experience at least once this year.