Abstract: Objective To learn the participation of the internship at community health care centers for the preclinical medical students in PUMC, the course outcomes and suggestions for the course improvement. Methods The survey was conducted among medical students admitted in the year from 2007 to 2009. A self-filled questionnaire for all students of 3 years and two focus-group interviews for students of class 2008 were used for data collection. A total of 198 students completed the questionnaire. Results The students who had participated in the internship showed more awareness on the community health care such as predominant population served, major diseases managed, routines activities, and advantages of them. Most respondents thought that it was suitable to arrange the internship in the second semester of the fourth year with a length of 18 hours. But nearly one half of them suggested visiting community centers in the mornings should be re-considered. They also suggested the internship should focus more on the activities specific for community health centers and they hope arrange training of knowledge and skills for the students before the internship. Conclusion The internship improved medical students’ awareness about the community health care, and it is still facing the challenges to guarantee the quality of different centers and achieve aims of the internship in limited course-hours.

Key words: Clinical Medical Education, Internship at Community Health Care Centers