Outpatient US Clinical Experience in Family Medicine in Houston

Information about this clinical experience:

You will be under the supervision of a board-certified family medicine physician who is fully invested in providing patient-centered care. After completing family medicine residency, the preceptor served on the faculty at Houston Methodist Hospital before starting an independent practice.

The doctor sees patients through a direct primary care model. This is a relatively new practice model where patients pay a membership fee to the physician for a certain set of primary care physicians. This model is becoming more popular among physicians as it allows patients to have longer visits, increased access to their physician, and more personalized care. For more information about direct primary care, please visit:

Direct Primary Care | AAFP

On a typical day, you will see 6 patients with the preceptor. Although this may seem like a small number, it’s not unusual for an appointment to last as long as one hour. This means that the physician can dive deep into many different issues and ensure the delivery of comprehensive, holistic care. It also means that the preceptor can spend more time with the rotator, covering pertinent teaching points that may not be covered due to lack of time in a high-volume practice.

Through the course of the experience, you will encounter patients presenting with a range of issues, including annual physicals, weight loss, women’s health, acute complaints, chronic disease management, and mental health issues. There will also be a focus on preventive medicine.

You will learn the following under the preceptor’s supervision:

• Taking patient histories under supervision.

• Presenting patients.

• Writing notes (although you will not enter notes in the EMR, you will be asked to write simulated notes on paper for the attending to review).

• Researching the literature to answer clinical questions at the point of care.