Students are encouraged to make the most of opportunities to learn about, learn from, and spend time with their patients. Students often become involved with a small group of patients, averaging two to four per week. Through detailed engagement with a limited number of patients, students begin to develop an understanding of clinical problems. Although these patients form the core of the student’s educational experience, exposure to additional patients in less detail is also important for broadening clinical knowledge. Students also benefit from discussions of other students’ patients and observing attendings or consultants during patient care.
The MD Program curriculum includes required clinical experiences, or “must see" encounters, for core clerkships and Family Medicine/General Practice, as detailed in the course syllabus. Students must document all required clinical experiences in the Patient Encounter Log (PEL), the electronic patient log application. The Office of the Senior Associate Dean of Clinical Studies monitors each student’s PEL to ensure completion of required encounters.
The clerkship director reviews the PEL at the mid-core formative assessment and when completing the final clerkship evaluation. This review confirms completion of curricular requirements and assesses students’ commitment to documentation and patient involvement.
Students are expected to complete all required clinical experiences. If a required clinical experience is not available during the clerkship, the requirement must be fulfilled through a virtual clinical experience, which is a web-based resource available on the clerkship learning management site. Completion of the PEL requirement fulfills a subcomponent of the Professional Behavior component of the clerkship grade.