Welcome to the Clinical Affairs Division
The Clinical Affairs Division provides oversight of the Early Clinical Experiences for students in their first and second years of medical school; the third year Core clinical curriculum and hospital training sites; and the fourth year selective and elective clinical rotations.
THE CLINICAL PROGRAM STRUCTURE
VCOM Clinical Affairs Division consists of: The Associate Dean, the Director of Clinical Rotations, the Assistant Director for fourth year rotations, the Clinical Department Chairs, the Directors of Student Medical Education at each Core hospital teaching site, and the Clinical Site Coordinators within each Core training site and the Core clinical faculty at each training site. This structure assures the oversight and delivery of the third year clinical curriculum.
You will find the description of each Core rotation, the instructions for each site, and the goals and objectives within each Clinical Chairs web site in this section. This includes Surgery, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine, Geriatrics, Rural Primary Care and Psychiatry.
EARLY CLINICAL EXPERIENCES
Students have an opportunity for clinical training in the ambulatory and hospital sites during the first and second year of medical school. In the first year students learn important communication skills and physical examination skills under faculty supervision. Experiences in the first year are done primarily in the geriatrics setting. In year two the medical student, under the supervision of physician faculty, care for patients in free clinics, geriatric centers, hospital settings, on Appalachian community outreach missions, on hospital rounds with PharmD instructors, and in palliative care settings. Students also have Clinical Skills courses to assist them in acquiring basic skills prior to the third year Core rotations.
OSTEOPATHIC MEDICAL SCHOOL YEAR THREE
VCOM third year medical students are required to complete nine third year clinical rotations. Each rotation is estimated at 180 hours, with 160 in the regular program and 20 hours or greater on call per month. The following are the list of third year required rotations that must be successfully completed to progress on to the fourth year. Students must complete these rotations at a Core VCOM site. The Core rotations are:
- Family Medicine
- Rural Primary Care
- Internal Medicine
- Surgery
- Obstetrics/Gynecology
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- Pediatrics
- Psychiatry
- Emergency Medicine
- Geriatrics
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Clinical Modules
Students are provided with required curriculum during the third year. Independent Learning Objectives are provided for the Core Discipline rotations. Campus clinical conferences occur and are broadcast to each clinical site. Students are required to attend the monthly clinical conferences.
Students are also provided with web-based teaching including clinical case modules and interactive web based instructional programs. These programs provide additional hours of Curriculum Instruction. The modules contain clinical material, basic science review/integration, and osteopathic principles and practices. Clinical cases include:
| Family Medicine | 20 hrs. |
| Rural Primary Care | 20 hrs. |
| Internal Medicine |
20 hrs. |
| Surgery | 20 hrs |
| Obstetrics/Gynecology | 20 hrs |
| Pediatrics | 20 hrs. |
| Emergency Medicine | 20 hrs. |
| Psychiatry |
20 hrs. |
| Geriatrics | 20 hrs. |
Some departments require additional curriculum such as Emergency Medicine Sim-cases. Requirements are listed on each clinical chairs web pages.
EXAMINATIONS
A post-rotation test follows each third year rotation and a comprehensive exam is given at the end of the first 36 weeks of the third year. Students who do not pass the post-rotation exam are given one chance to remediate. If the exam is failed twice, the student will be given an F and the case will be sent to the promotion board. Students must pass the comprehensive exam at the end of the year in order to progress to fourth year.
A Clinical Performance Examination also is given to assess clinical skills at the end of the 36 weeks. Students must take and pass the Objective Structured Clinical Exam and Standardized Patient Exams in order to progress to the fourth year.
The exams cover the educational objectives in the Learning Objectives for Ambulatory Care Rotation guide, the Learning Objectives from the Core Disciplines guide, and the material found in the Web-Based Instruction. Students must successfully pass the Comprehensive MSIII examinations prior to taking required fourth-year rotations.
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