School of Medicine Professional Medicine (M.D.) Course Catalog

Combined Third and Fourth Year Overview

The second two years of the curriculum comprise the final twenty-five months of the curriculum and consist of core clerkships, selectives (required experiences) and electives. This is an opportunity for students to choose courses that will further strengthen their strong points and fill in deficiencies, where such deficits exist. Wherever possible, the scheduling goal should be to broaden and deepen experiences in varied areas of medicine; increase independent learning; and gain confidence as a responsible member of the health care team. This is not a time to gain skills which will be retaught in postgraduate training. Sharpening one's skills in history taking, physical examination and writing detailed notes, continued learning of a humanistic approach to patient care, and attempting to deepen one's understanding of pathophysiology will last a lifetime. This time is one-half of your formal undergraduate medical education and should be both academically strong and enjoyable.

• Core Clerkships must be completed within the first 18 months at the UPSOM;
• Successful completion of a four week acting internship (AI) in Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics or Surgery;
• Successful completion of a four week Integrated Life Science (ILS) selective
• Eligibility for elective scheduling is dependent upon meeting the prerequisites as published;
• Electives must be taken in a four-week block per course; in accordance with the academic year calendar;
• Two months of dedicated time, for credit, may be scheduled for work on the Scholarly Project;
• A maximum of three extramural elective periods is permitted;
• A maximum of two months of research, exclusive of the Scholarly Project, is permitted;
• A maximum of two months of non-clinical time is available; the primary purpose is for the interview process of the fourth year.

• Medicine or neurology;
• Pediatrics, pediatric neurology, pediatric pathology, pediatric surgery;
• Surgery or surgical specialties, obstetrics & gynecology;
• Ambulatory care, community medicine or psychiatry.

Reporting and Attendance: Timely daily reporting and attendance are considered an issue of Professionalism. Respect for your patients and colleagues dictate that you report when and where expected each day you are scheduled. If you are unable to report due to an emergency or illness, you must know who is the appropriate contact person. This information is available at the orientation for each of the core clerkships and for non clerkships should always be the Departmental Student Coordinator. Except for the university winter break, holiday schedules are at the discretion of the course director. During the fourth year, non clinical time is available to schedule interview travel. A maximum of three days may be granted at the discretion of the course director as interview time. Be prepared to make this request well in advance and also to make up the time and work missed.

Required Courses:
An acting internship (AI) is a clinical rotation offered on an in-patient service where one or more attending physicians have overall responsibility for coordinated patient care. The service will be structured with both attending staff and house staff. The acting internship should include the assignment to the student of specific groups of patients upon whom he/she completes an initial history and physical examination, constructs a differential diagnosis, formulates a treatment plan, writes orders and carries out the necessary therapy, all under careful supervision. To fulfill the AI requirement, an acting internship must be taken with UPSOM faculty; it may not be replaced by an extramural elective.

The Integrated Life Science (ILS) courses are specially designed to revisit the basic sciences. Current year offerings may be viewed by searching the catalog for the ILS course type.