Clinical Education (Years 3 and 4)

Student practicing blood pressure reading

Starting Your Clinical Education

Students are assigned to a clinical campus early in year 2 of the program. In summer term of year 3, students move to one of the teaching hospital sites located throughout the state of Ohio. Each student completes the structured ambulatory family medicine clerkship in the first three months of year 3 with an individually assigned preceptor. During this time, students also participate in weekly small-group seminars with physician facilitators.

Students enter the final one-and-one-half years of clinical training at affiliated teaching hospitals, clinics and private practitioners’ offices located throughout the state. Students meet curricular requirements in the combination of hospital-based and ambulatory rotations, which heavily emphasize primary care medicine and ambulatory medical care, to provide a broad, well-rounded clinical experience. In addition to their participation in required rotations, students have the opportunity to schedule elective rotations in medical disciplines to pursue their personal interests and/or to meet unique clinical training needs.

Rotations are designed to provide students with active, hands-on learning experiences in medical situations. Under the supervision of clinical faculty, students become involved in the case management of patients as they refine their problem-solving, diagnostic and therapeutic skills. Rotation schedules are constructed with assistance from clinical campus administrative personnel to ensure that curricular requirements are met. Each rotation is a separate learning experience, and each student’s evaluation is based on an individual assessment by his or her preceptor(s) during that rotation. Concurrent with these experiences, various clinical learning activities are incorporated into the curriculum to augment student learning, utilizing such instructional modalities as lectures, the use of self-instructional materials, professional development seminars, clinical case conferences, tumor board meetings, case-based discussions and interactive computer assignments.