The Department of Osteopathic Family and Community Medicine is integrally involved in medical student training throughout the four years of medical school, beginning in the first year. Through clinical courses, students develop skills in differential diagnosis, case presentation, EKG interpretation, SOAP note and prescription writing, evidence-based medicine, ultrasound and biostatistics. They also gain exposure to the business of medicine. In accordance with the comprehensive nature of Family Medicine, all systems of the body are discussed using a case-based format across the age span, carefully integrating the art of medicine and osteopathic principles and practice (OPP) with the concepts of medical diagnosis and treatment of common disease entities. Faculty serve as facilitators in clinical exam case presentation and differential diagnosis workshops for first and second year students. They regularly observe, debrief and grade first and second year student performances in Observed Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) experiences. They demonstrate and observe student skills in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM). 

Prior to clinical rotations, all students participate in department-led procedural workshops, including dermatologic procedures, OMM, and musculoskeletal ultrasound. Faculty co-direct and/or participate in the OCM III and IV courses in the third and fourth year, and the two required core clinical clerkship rotations in Family Medicine for all third-year students, as well as several elective rotations, including OMM. Many students have the opportunity to work with Department of Osteopathic Family and Community Medicine faculty in the Midwestern University Multispecialty Clinic on campus during one of these rotations where they can observe the practical application of OPP in the care of patients in an outpatient setting. Third year rotations consist of office-based, hospitalist-based, and residency-based rotation opportunities.