Traditionally clinical teaching is based in tertiary hospitals, where there is a mismatch between the learning needs of students and the range of patients available for teaching. There are also drivers of increasing; patient acuity in hospital, student numbers, and supervisor workload. Finally many existing community placements are longitudinal requiring significant restructuring to deliver. We describe an innovative clinical education model that fits within the existing clinical education structure at the University of Sydney.The six-week Gastroenterology Block has traditionally used a ward-based teaching model. In 2013, at Hornsby, the block was run as a hybrid model for 12 students, keeping the learning outcomes unchanged. Three GPs and two specialists were recruited and educated on the goals of the block and on small group teaching. Orientation, history and exam skills training for students occurred in week one. Each GP hosted four students in their practice for a half-day session weekly, whereas each specialist hosted 1-2 students over five weeks. In the afternoons students received procedural skill sessions, and specialist-led Master classes around common problems.We wished to determine the acceptability and effectiveness of our hybrid community-based teaching model. The project was evaluated using mixed methods including student pre-post learning needs and satisfaction ratings, short integrated assessments, clinical log-books, and a debriefing focus group. Supervisors were interviewed.We found that the hybrid block was acceptable to both students and supervisors. Students demonstrated good progress through the block, seeing a range of clinical cases which were different from those usually seen in the hospital setting, and were judged by their supervisors to be competent. Students preferred a reduction in didactic material in the Masterclasses in favour of more feedback on examination skills and interpretation of investigations. We concluded the model was generalisable to other blocks and to other clinical school settings