Third Year Curriculum
In the third year, emphasis is on the integration of basic science knowledge with clinical, ethical, diagnostic, and problem solving skills. Clinical clerkships, during which students learn patient management as members of the health care team, include family practice, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, and surgery. Students also take a Topics of Medicine course which reviews a series of simulated patients with common medical problems seen in ambulatory medicine. The student is also required to complete a four-week clinical neurology clerkship between the end of the sophomore year and the end of the senior year.
Family Practice Clinical Clerkship
Four weeks with a community based or faculty family practice preceptor. The majority of the time is spent with the preceptor in the hospital, office, nursing homes, and on house calls. Time is also spent learning about and experiencing other elements of the health care system in the community served by the preceptor.
Internal Medicine Clinical Clerkship
Twelve weeks divided into one six-week inpatient clerkship and two three-week selectives; one inpatient and one outpatient. Inpatient clerkships consist of case work and rounds on wards of the University of Utah Medical Center, LDS Hospital, or the VA Medical Center. Selectives include ambulatory care, cardiology, hematology/oncology, geriatrics, or additional general medicine inpatient rotations.
Neurology Clinical Clerkship
Four weeks divided into two weeks inpatient and two weeks outpatient experiences. The inpatient rotation at the University of Utah Medical Center, Primary Children's Medical Center, or VA Medical Center consists of direct patient care, daily ward rounds, brain cutting sessions, procedures such as lumbar puncture, participation in clinical conferences, and attendance at specialty clinics. The outpatient experience occurs in the multiple sclerosis, muscle, and neurology outpatient clinics.
Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinical Clerkship
Six weeks of inpatient and outpatient experience at the University of Utah Medical Center and LDS Hospital. Time is also spent in lectures, seminars, and review of gynecological pathology.
Pediatrics Clinical Clerkship
Six weeks divided into two three-week blocks. Three weeks are spent on the inpatient wards at Primary Children's Medical Center (PCMC). The other three week block includes one week on a pediatric subspecialty service and the other two weeks at the General Pediatric Clinic at the University of Utah Medical Center, the newborn nursery at the University of Utah Medical Center, the office of a private pediatrician, or the emergency room at PCMC. The six week clerkship as a whole includes a weekly outpatient experience, a core lecture series, and numerous teaching conferences.
Psychiatry Clinical Clerkship
Six weeks emphasizing inpatient care at the University of Utah Medical Center, VA Medical Center, Primary Children's Medical Center, and the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute. Students attend civil commitment proceedings, electroconvulsive therapy, outpatient clinics, and consultation/liaison rounds. One day each week is devoted to a core lecture series and case conferences. Each student spends one week on the consultation/ liaison service and one half day per week in the office of an outpatient therapist.
Surgery Clinical Clerkship
Eight weeks of ward work, operating room experience, lectures, case presentations, and rounds at the University Medical Center and affiliated hospitals. Students spend four weeks on general surgery and four weeks in subspecialty areas, the latter generally in outpatient settings.
Topics in Medicine
Eight hours per month addressing medical economics, patient continuity management, informatic skills, medical literature analysis, and psychosocial/ethical issues. The course focuses on teaching the skills of evidence based medicine and continuous learning in addition to imparting the content data needed to manage the cases which are pertinent to the student's concurrent clerkship.
OSCE – Objective Structured Clinical Exam
During the third year, students will participate in exams called OSCE’s at the end of each clerkship rotation. The term OSCE refers to the Objective Structured Clinical Exam. It is a simulated student doctor-patient encounter designed to test a particular clinical skill or set of skills. There will also be a cumulative “End of Year OSCE” to help prepare students for the required national USMLE Step 2 CS (Clinical Skills) exam.
