An outline is given of a pilot project to introduce medical students to the broad concept of community medical practice with the emphasis on a rural Aboriginal community. The subjective experiences of the students are recorded and discussed. It is suggested that similar projects are essential to give balance to the bias of hospital training of medical students and to attract doctors to this discipline. The main advantages of such a scheme are that it broadens the perspective of the medical student, widens his potential choice of career, and gives him insight into the medical needs of a socioeconomically deprived group and into the wider role that a doctor can play in the health of the community.
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