2. How can your learning from TWO (2) of this week’s activities and assignments be applied to a primary care practice? (4 points)

I think the eco-mapping activity is absolutely a valuable tool in a primary care practice. The specific example that we used regarding a patient who needs to quit smoking was really eye-opening, and is something that can be encountered in many primary care offices. The activity itself lets the doctor and patient both slow down for a minute and work together. Working as a team takes everyone’s opinions into consideration and helps the doctor know what issues should be tackled in what order. Additionally, writing out on paper the things that are helping/ hurting a patient can really allow the patient to visualize the problems at hand and take them more seriously. Overall, eco-mapping can make primary care visits more effective.

Another activity that I think would be useful in a primary care experience is the Clinical prevention and population health problem set/resources. Depending on specialty, any number of the websites and apps that we explored and utilized during this activity could be critical in making clinical decisions during practice. For example, the AHRQ ePSS app would be absolutely crucial in …show more content…
I was really surprised how much I did not know about the United States’ health care and insurance systems and I think being knowledgeable about those things can help any doctor cater more to their patients’ needs. A patient’s insurance situation is part of their context as a person. It can give clues to their employment situation, family life, and or the challenges that they face. For example, an oncologist can treat a cancer patient more effectively and in context if they are aware that they are on uninsured and how they became uninsured. The oncologist may have more success in treating that patient if the two of them