Third Year Clerkships
Family Medicine
4 weeks
- Clerkship Director: Lisa Vargish, MD | (773) 834-1365 | lvargish@bsd.uchicago.edu
- Student Program Coordinator: Debbie Greusel | (773) 834-6852 | dgreusel@bsd.uchicago.edu
- Website: http://familymedicine.bsd.uchicago.edu/students.html
Description
This month long clerkship is conducted at various clinical sites within the Chicago area. The clinical sites include community health centers, private practices and clinics in the MacNeal Family Practice Residency Program. Ideally students are assigned to one (1) preceptor four days a week or two (2) different preceptors sites, working at each two days a week. When rotating at a residency program, students work with both faculty and residents.
Students are engaged in clinical activities Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays throughout the rotation. On Wednesdays, students return to the University for Clerkship Didactics and small group discussion. Traditionally, the last Thursday of the rotation is an assigned reading day to prepare for the final exam. Students will work with their preceptors up to and including the Tuesday before the exam.
Clinical Evaluation
The following are the three clinical rating forms that must be completed by preceptors during the Family Medicine rotation. Students are responsible for giving the forms to their preceptor to have them completed.
At the end of the first two weeks, students ask preceptor(s) to complete the Mid-Rotation Student Evaluation form and then meet with them to discuss their progress to date. If there are two preceptors, either preceptor can complete this form, but having both of them complete a midterm evaluation is ideal.
At the end of the third week, students should ask one of their preceptors to observe them interacting with a patient to complete the Observed History and Physical Examination form and to discuss their performance.
Prior to a students last day at the assigned site(s), students should give their preceptor(s) the final student evaluation form to rate their clinical performance for the clerkship, which they should mail to the Student Program Coordinator. Some preceptors complete the form electronically, but giving them the form is still very helpful, since many complete them by hand. If you have any questions about the forms, please contact the Student Program Coordinator or the Clerkship Director.
Objectives
- Learn how to diagnose and treat common clinical problems confronted by family physicians.
- Obtain a focused or comprehensive history and physical examination appropriate to the constraints of the encounter and the patient’s presenting complaint
- Generate differential diagnoses for patient’s problems, with special consideration of the common disorders that present in a primary care setting.
- Develop a reasonable evaluation and treatment plan for the patient, taking into account patient preferences, psychological state, cultural background, financial resources and other life circumstances.
- Present and document patient visits accurately and effectively.
- Demonstrate an understanding of mental health issues in primary care.
- Communicate effectively with patients and their families.
- Conduct professional relationships with patients, staff and colleagues.
- Solve clinical problems by generating clinical questions and answering them with the best evidence through effective searches of electronic databases.
- Practice efficiently searching electronic databases to find the best available answers to clinical questions.
- Practice assessing the internal and external validity of resources for answering clinical questions.
- Demonstrate the ability to apply best evidence (regardless of the level or strength of evidence) to individual patients, taking into account generalizability, potential biological variability, personal financial issues, patient preferences, cultural issues and access to care considerations.
- Learn the role and essential characteristics of family physicians.
Evaluation of Clinical Clerks
Grading is determined by a student’s performance in three areas:
- Clinical Performance
- Clinical Questions, and
- Final Examination. The percentage of the grade contributed by each of these areas is as follows:
- 55% Clinical Performance
- 20% Clinical Questions (10% Final Presentations, 3% Electronic Knowledge Resources Evaluation, and 7% Point of Care Questions)
- 20% Final Examination
- 5% Participation
Required Textbook
- Essentials of Family Medicine, 5th Edition, by Sloan, Slatt, Ebell, Jacques and Smith