Community-Based Medical Education: Models from Developing Countries

Abstract

Metropolitan areas face a health care crisis that demands attention to providing greater health care access, particularly for the poor. At the same time, medical schools that serve this clientele remain frozen In a post-World War II academic model of specialization and high technology with virtually no component of training devoted to primary care services or community-based education. Since the United States currently lacks alternatives for addressing this problem, the purpose of this article is to examine selected medical schools in developing countries as possible models for addressing the educational dilemma facing United States metropolitan medical schools.