Core Clinical Medicine (Clerkships)
Third-year students spend a great deal of time in clinical training opportunities throughout New York City.
During clerkships, students function as members of the clinical team with attending physicians, residents, interns, nurses, and allied health professionals. Through a combination of supervised patient care, conferences, lectures, individual feedback and teaching rounds, students apply the knowledge and skills they acquired in their first and second year courses. At these sites, students continue to broaden their knowledge of the clinical manifestations of disease processes, and develop their interviewing and physical examination techniques and their communication skills. They begin to assume responsibility, under supervision, for the evaluation and treatment of patients. The goal of third year clerkships is to provide students with opportunities to develop their skills in the evaluation and care of patients. Students also participate in the Transition to Clerkship course, a week-long program that occurs before students begin clerkships.
Clerkships are paired during the Core Clinical Medicine year to support integration of relevant basic science knowledge.
This mini-course provides an overview of skills, knowledge and attitudes required for clinical clerkships. Through lecture and small group exercises, students learn about the continuum of care of patients from hospital admission through discharge and follow-up, the medical student’s role in patient care, the learning habits and attitudes required to succeed in clinical settings, and methods of assessment and evaluation used in the clinical years. Precedes clerkships.
Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics
Associate Dean of Clinical Competencies
The Obstetrics and Gynecology Clerkship is a 6-week rotation that highlights the health care for women of all age groups. Students rotate through three clinical divisions, including outpatient clinics, Labor/Delivery, and Gynecology/Gynecology-Oncology. Required didactics for all students are on Mondays and take place at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. Clerkship objectives and requirements of students are presented during orientation. Each student is required to present a clinical case observed during their rotation. Daily schedules may include rounds, evaluation of outpatients, preparing patients for surgery, assisting in surgeries, labor and deliveries, postoperative/postpartum care, and more. Some students will be assigned to affiliate sites including Kings County Hospital Center, The Brooklyn Hospital Center, and Maimonides Medical Center. We look forward to having each student rotate in our clerkship. Our intention is that this experience to be education and meaningful in every student’s professional growth.
Clerkship Director: Melanie Peters, M.D.
Clerkship Coordinator: Ms. Takiya Swaby
The clerkship in Pediatrics is a six-week rotation in which students will be exposed to a rich curriculum encompassing birth through adolescence. Students will learn to take complete care of your patients, with an emphasis on disease prevention, growth and development, nutrition, and the diagnosis and management of common pediatric illnesses. Students will forge relationships with children and their families as they enlist them to be partners in their care. In essence, students will learn to think and act like a pediatrician.
Clerkship Director: Temitope Jose, M.D.
Clerkship Associate Director: Laura Dattner, M.D.
Clerkship Coordinator: Shevonne Williams
Clerkship Director: Jeffrey Feola M.D.
Clerkship Coordinator: Carlo Crucero
During the Neurology clerkship, students will acquire the basic skills of neurological assessment of the adult and pediatric neurology patient. Each student plays an important role on their respective teams and will have adequate time to spend with the patients assigned to them. Students will be able to take detailed histories, following physical findings over time, and report findings to team members. Students will be expected to hone their bedside skills and demonstrate competence in performance of the neurologic assessment, including the fine art of history-taking and the performance of the bedside exam.
Clerkship Co-Directors: Lisa R. Merlin, M.D.
Clerkship Associate Director: Nuri Jacoby, M.D.
Clerkship Coordinator: Nathalie Deare
The Internal Medicine clerkship consists of two 4-week inpatient rotations at two clinical sites including: Downstate University Hospital, Brooklyn Veterans Administration Medical Center, Brookdale Medical Center, Lenox Hill Hospital/Northwell Health, North Shore University Hospital, Maimonides Medical Center, and NYC H+H/Kings County.
Rotations at two clinical sites allow varied exposure to patient population, clinical conditions, patients’ cultural backgrounds, and socio-economic status. The clerkship students will be members of inpatient Medicine teams conducting history and physical exams, interpreting common diagnostic tests, formulating differential diagnoses, developing management plans, performing basic procedures, and learning to document patient encounters while interacting with multiple healthcare professionals. During rounds, students apply the medical knowledge and principles of pharmacology and therapeutics and learn from experienced attending physicians and sub-specialties. On call days, the students actively participate in the evaluation of newly admitted patients and prepare the admission H&P. In addition, the students prepare patient write-ups which are discussed with a seasoned faculty preceptor on a weekly basis.
Our students find the Medicine Clerkship rotation invaluable as it provides the basic foundation for the practice of medicine and prepares them as the next generation of compassionate physicians who are poised to advance the field and improve the quality of life of their patients and the community at large.
Clerkship Director: Isabel M. McFarlane, M.D., FACP
Clerkship Coordinators: Sunday McCray
Welcome to the required, four-week, MS3, Primary Care I Clerkship (Primary Care/Family Medicine)!
In this four-week rotation, students will have the opportunity to assume the role of PRIMARY STUDENT- PHYSICIAN in a variety of primary care settings. We anticipate that this experience will provide a rich exposure to the rewards and challenges of providing care to non-hospitalized patients.
Primary care is a beautifully broad specialty. It is expected that you will meet, evaluate and follow children, families, and/or adults who require routine healthcare maintenance (e.g. Pap tests, well child checks, advanced care planning, etc) as well as who present with a range of acute and chronic medical problems. Many of these patients will have serious medical conditions that merit intensive diagnostic testing, pharmacologic treatment, and referral. Some patients will be seeking gynecologic care or family planning consultation. Others will be seen with pediatric, medical or surgical subspecialists for more targeted diagnosis and management. You will all develop new skills and knowledge in areas such as preventive medicine, patient education and counseling, occupational and rehabilitative medicine, clinical nutrition, and emergency care. Some students will be exposed to home care for older patients, and learn aspects of clinical geriatrics that will be new to them. Others will focus more on the needs of adolescent patients and their families. Some will see patients with substance use disorder and will learn about the various ways of managing addiction.
You can anticipate that this rotation will challenge you to hone your clinical skills in medical interviewing, physical diagnosis, laboratory assessment, including the interpretation of tests, reviewing X-rays and reading EKGs. Your knowledge of basic pathophysiology, differential diagnosis, and the management of diseases will grow, as will your ability to set reasonable priorities for each medical encounter. This agenda setting will involve consideration of the patient's perspectives and needs as well as the realities of a hectic clinic.
Regardless of the clinical setting, some of these patients may express difficulties coping with illness, adapting to situations in the home, or who are struggling with financial barriers to care. As you will learn, primary care providers are uniquely positioned to challenge the structural barriers to health justice that are embedded in our medical care system. You may face situations that appear to pose insurmountable challenges to our patients and our providers. You will be asked to reflect upon these throughout your time in this clerkship.
We hope you have a rigorous and impactful PC1 rotation and are able to experience the art and joy of providing holistic, preventive care to our patients!
Clerkship Director: Hannah Brooks, MD, MSc
Clerkship Coordinator: Nicole Langlaise
The Anesthesiology Clerkship is a rotation in perioperative medicine.
As members of the anesthesia care team, under direct supervision of physicians, students participate
(1) in the pre-operative assessment of patients-- conducting histories and physical examinations and formulating basic anesthetic management plans,
(2) in the intraoperative medical management of co-morbid conditions, while delivering anesthesia, sedation and resuscitation of patients; and
(3) in the post-operative recovery and acute pain management of patients undergoing surgical and non-surgical medical procedures.
Students gain hands-on experience with medical procedures like placement and interpretation of physiologic monitors, intravenous access placement, nerve blockade and in basic and advanced airway management techniques.
During the course of 2-weeks, students also receive didactics on anesthetic pharmacology, cardio-pulmonary physiology, resuscitation and management of patients’ co-existing disease during the perioperative period.
Clerkship Director: Dennis Dimaculangan, M.D.
Clerkship Coordinator: Karen A. King
Surgery
As an active member of the surgical team, the medical student will participate in the care of assigned patients through taking histories, performing physical examinations, and engaging in the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures that are within the scope of her/his competence. The student will be expected to expand their knowledge through the evaluation and assessment of the surgical problems presented by her/his patients.
Clerkship Director: Jon Kirwin, M.D.
Associate Clerkship Coordinator: Irina Kovatch, M.D.
Interim Clerkship Coordinator: Carlo Crucero
Students are required to complete two 2-week Core Year elective during the Core Clinical year (MS3). These Selectives are designed to give students an opportunity to see and participate in fields of Medicine that they may not be exposed to at all during clerkships.