Summer Preceptorship Program

Overview

Directed by Dr. Joseph Daprano, MD, the E. Harry Walker, M.D. Summer Preceptorship in Community Health awards two collegiate undergraduate students or first-year medical students the opportunity to spend eight weeks over the summer in urban and suburban primary care community healthcare settings at The MetroHealth System.

History

Established in 2023, the E. Harry Walker, MD, Preceptorship in Community Health is an opportunity to explore the potential for a career in primary care in a community healthcare setting.

Innovative Approach

This innovative program offers pre-med or first-year medical students the opportunity to work with a physician experienced in providing primary care in a community healthcare center. Students will learn about individual patient-centered care as well as population health and quality improvement aspects of community healthcare.

Patient-centered care, quality improvement and population health are integral components of high-quality medical care. This preceptorship will provide an opportunity to focus deeply in these areas and learn what it is to be a primary care physician in a community healthcare setting.

The Preceptorship Experience

Students will be assigned to a MetroHealth Primary Care physician and will see patients with the physician. The physician preceptor will also supervise the progress of the student's learning experience.

Students spend the better part of each weekday shadowing a primary care physician in patient care.

Based on the students’ interest, there are also opportunities for learning meetings with MetroHealth physicians engaged in population health and quality improvement, hospital rounds and other experiences at MetroHealth.

A portion of the students’ time will be dedicated to working on a population health or quality improvement project longitudinally through the eight-week preceptorship.

At the end of the eight-week experience, students are required to prepare a project report for presentation.