Baystate Community Faculty

A patient is an individual—and a member of a community.

So, in PURCH, you will collaborate with your "community faculty"—a diverse group of community members who are passionate about shaping the education of future healthcare providers.

Making An Impact on Medical Education

Baystate Community Faculty is composed of urban and rural community residents and representatives of local and regional community-based organizations who seek to help us achieve the goal of developing culturally humble physicians as community advocates.

Baystate Community Faculty come together monthly with PURCH team members to collaborate on educational initiatives and opportunities for our students.

Applicant Interviews

Baystate Community Faculty members are involved in evaluating PURCH track applicants by participating as raters in the Mini Multiple Interview (MMI) process.

Poverty Simulations

In this interactive educational experience, medical students role-play being a member of a family living at or below the poverty line. They decide how to pay for housing and food, get to work, keep their kids in school, and deal with unexpected challenges with limited resources. Baystate Community Faculty portray community resource workers, and facilitate discussion about needs of the community and the social determinants that effect healthcare.

Standardized Patients

Some Baystate Community Faculty members are trained to act as patients with specific medical conditions, and allow students to interview or examine them in a simulated office visit. They provide constructive feedback to medical students and evaluate their medical interviewing skills and physical examination techniques.

Making an Impression on Medical Students

By facilitating small group discussions, providing immersive community experiences, and collaborating on their advocacy efforts, the Baystate Community Faculty illuminate problems of health inequity for PURCH students and help them develop skills to address them.

PURCH students appreciate the value the Baystate Community Faculty bring to their education.

Community Faculty Membership

Each community faculty member has undergone professional development training to prepare them to participate in medical education.