Biennium II

The concluding two years are almost entirely devoted to learning clinical medicine. In our region there are many hospitals and clinics where our full-time and voluntary faculty both practice and teach and supervise medical students and residents. All third-year and the two required fourth-year clerkships must occur at our affiliated hospitals whereby the school’s faculty can supervise a student’s progress. Required clerkships cannot be taken at other medical schools. Duty hours are restricted to 80 hours per week and each student must attest compliance with this requirement at the end of each clerkship.

Each clerkship has a set of learning objectives that are congruent with the School's Educational Objectives and an assessment system. Faculty evaluate student performance in a standardized web-based format at the end of the clerkship, however, there is also a mid-clerkship formative evaluation process. All clerkships, with the exception of Emergency Medicine, require the NBME Shelf Exam as part of the final grading. All students must complete the School’s Fourth Year Objective Standardized Clinical Examination (OSCE) within about six weeks of finishing the third year. The USMLE Step Two (CK) should be taken during this time frame as well.

Year 3 begins in late July or early August and lasts 12 months. The number of hours per week varies with each clinical rotation but is limited to 80 hours per week. Students will receive three weeks of vacation during the year. By the end of the third year, all students are expected to have demonstrated the ability to:

• Establish rapport with patients and their families and co-workers.
• Obtain a complete medical history using the appropriate departmental format.
• Perform a complete physical exam using the appropriate departmental format.
• Recommend appropriate diagnostic studies.
• Interpret diagnostic studies.
• Synthesize data from the medical history, physical exam, and diagnostic studies.
• Develop a differential diagnosis.
• Develop management plans.

Year-3 Clerkships

Year 4 begins in August and lasts 10 months. During this period, students may choose two months for vacation and visiting potential residency program sites. During the remaining eight months, the required and elective rotations will be completed.

Year-4 Clerkships & Electives

Much of Year 4 is devoted to electives. None of these electives may be "essentially identical," and only two may be extramural. Students may satisfy one of the months by completing two two-week experiences.

Students will choose an electives program after consulting with an advisor and receiving his or her approval. Electives must be chosen from at least three different departments, with at least one being a Junior Internship in a primary care department (Family Medicine, Medicine, or Pediatrics).