Journal of Community Health Vol. 17, No. 4, August 1992 TEACHING COMMUNITY ORIENTED PRIMARY CARE IN A TRADITIONAL MEDICAL SCHOOL: A TWO YEAR PROGRESS REPORT Joanne Klevens, MD, MPH; Camilo Valderrama, MD, MPH Ofelia Restrepo, RN, MPH; Pedro Vargas, MD; Mauricio Casasbuenas, MD; Maria Mercedes Avella, MD ABSTRACT: Efforts are being made to extend the practice of Com- munity Oriented Primary Care by reorienting existing health services or restructuring medical education curricula. Nevertheless, changes in education must be simultaneous to changes in health services so that health professionals trained in COPC will find areas to practice COPC. The experience described in this article presents an effort in these two directions. A teaching program was introduced in a traditional medi- cal school curriculum and was extended to six health services by train- ing the directors of the health service as teaching instructors of COPC or closely coordinating actions with the director of the health service. The results of the program show fulfillment of learning objectives and student satisfaction with the program. Evaluations of the development of COPC in the health services involved show modifications in health programs to meet community needs and stronger community leader- ship and organization. Community Oriented Primary Care (COPC) is the integration of primary health care for individuals and families, and community health care for the population as a whole with emphasis on subgroups within the community with special needs. ~ The case for COPC has been firmly made; the approach provides an effective methodology for opera- tionalizing the principles set in the Alma Ata Declaration and a rational and effective approach for providing health services to any population group. ~-6 Nevertheless, implementation has been limited. Joanne Klevens, MD, MPH, is Director, Department of Preventive Medicine, Universidad Javeriana; All co-authors are instructors in the same department. We wish to thank Dr. Jaime Gofin and Professor Joseph Abramson for their helpful suggestions in a preliminary version of the manuscript. Thanks are extended to Churchill Liv- ingstone for permission to reproduce the figure from Abramson, JH, Survey Methods in Community Medicine. Edinburgh, 1984. Requests for reprints should be addressed to: Dr. Joanne Klevens, Department of Pre~ ventive Medicine, Universidad Javeriana, Transversal 5 No. 42-05, Bogota, Colombia. © 1992 Human Sciences Press, Inc. 231