Longitudinal Patient Care Experience, LPC, enables first year medical students to experience an office-based medical practice. LPC is a part of our first year curriculum course, the Fundamentals of Patient Care. In this course, students learn that the doctor-patient relationship forms the basis of medical care and how medical interviewing helps to establish that relationship. LPC allows the students the opportunity to connect classroom learning to a real patient care setting.

Our students visit the same office 12-14 afternoons during the academic year.  This allows students to become familiar with the office and its staff and have continuity in their learning. 

The goals of the visits are:

1. Students observe experienced physicians interacting with patients;
2. Students practice the interviewing and history taking skills that they are learning in the classroom;
3. Students gain exposure to the importance of the doctor-patient relationship in patient care.
4. Students learn the roles on the health care team of the various office staff.
5. Students decide what the pros and cons are for a particular medical specialty.