The clinical clerkship in medicine is intended to enable the student to understand the clinical correlation of basic science knowledge and to acquire further medical information and clinical skills necessary for understanding and management of commonly encountered medical problems and diseases of adult patients. Five hospitals and numerous ambulatory sites participate in the clerkship program. The course is composed of both inpatient and outpatient experiences.
For the inpatient rotations, the students are arranged into groups of two or three who work as members of a medical ward team that also includes an attending physician and two or three house officers. In addition to their daily work, they take night and weekend duties. Each student is expected to perform initial evaluation and close follow-up of a limited number of patients. During the early part of the clerkship, the emphasis is placed on patient interview, physical examination, problem identification, write-ups, and case presentations. More direct involvement with patient management and decision making, as well as familiarization with common bedside and lab procedures, is progressively added to their clinical clerkship activities. With diverse roles, the attending physician and house staff actively participate in student teaching.
The ambulatory portion of the clerkship is done under the supervision of a preceptor at one or more outpatient clinics. Students will be expected to perform directed histories and physicals and to write up and discuss the cases seen with the preceptor.
At the outset of the course, each student is provided with a course syllabus describing the objectives, expectations, student's responsibilities, and outline of the core curriculum with pagination of a most updated medical textbook and other references. Although the students will have ample learning opportunities through their participation in patient workup, daily rounds, case presentations and discussions, teaching conferences, lectures and seminars, their self-learning through reading and effective use of the medical libraries and learning resource centers will be stressed throughout the clerkship. The eventual goal is to develop the skills that will allow each student to continue independent learning and problem solving.
Prerequisite: MS3 (this is a required third-year clerkship)