Third-Year Medicine Clerkship

The Adult Inpatient Medicine clerkship is an 8-week clinical and didactic rotation designed to help students develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to provide care to acutely ill adult patients while encompassing the Department of Medicine missions of excellence in patient care and preeminent leadership in medical education.

It’s an exciting time to learn in a hospital setting! The evolving role of hospitalists, rapid innovations in specialty care, advances in clinical technology, greater recognition of the importance of collaborative inter-professional practice, and widespread initiatives in patient safety and quality improvement are changing the way that care is provided in the hospital and across all healthcare settings. Despite these changes, the fundamental traditions of clinical excellence and compassionate care with a biopsychosocial approach remain the same.

During the clerkship, all students join a Hospital Medicine team at our primary site, Strong Memorial Hospital for a portion of their clinical experience. Students may also rotate at one of the regional community hospitals—FF Thompson Hospital or Highland Hospital—to gain additional exposure to general inpatient medicine, join our Medicine in Psychiatry team, or join our inpatient sub-specialty care teams in the Heart Center and Wilmot Cancer Center.

During the first week of the clerkship, students are introduced to Internal Medicine concepts and topics by participating in a series of skills workshops and case conferences and completing virtual assignments during their independent study time.  Over the next 7 weeks, the students will be immersed in clinical medicine as members of inpatient teams. They will participate in additional structured educational experiences during this time, including small group, student-centered case conferences, a hands-on POCUS session, and a clinical reflection workshop. However, the core of students’ learning will occur in the context of caring for the patients on their clinical teams. The rotation follows the Clerkship Directors of Internal Medicine (CDIM) Core Medicine Clerkship Curriculum.

At all sites throughout the Medicine clerkship, students are encouraged to become integral members of their teams and participate in all aspects of patient care, embracing a patient centered and team-oriented approach and progressively refining their bedside clinical competence, communication skills and medical decision making.  The clerkship emphasizes the importance of primary and secondary disease prevention, high value evidence-based practice, the recognition and amelioration of health care disparities, effective transitions of care, and strong collaboration between specialties and other health team members.  Additionally, the clerkship provides students with exposure to the various aspects of internal medicine practice to assist them in career selection.

Contacts

Jennifer Pascoe, M.D.
Director, Inpatient Medicine Clerkship
Assistant Professor – Department of Medicine

Christine Osborne, M.D.
Associate Director, Inpatient Medicine Clerkship
Assistant Professor – Department of Medicine

Emily Salib, M.D.
Associate Director, Inpatient Medicine Clerkship
Assistant Professor – Department of Medicine and Pediatrics

Benita Shelley
Medicine Clerkship Coordinator