To contact a Clerkship Director, access the Course Directors and Contact Information page for contact information.

Curriculum Overview of Year 3

Year three begins with a two week Introduction to Clerkships course that prepares students for their clinical years. After this introductory course, students complete five required clerkships varying in length from 4 weeks to 12 weeks. All of the clerkships are interdisciplinary. Some are based entirely at ambulatory sites, some are entirely inpatient, and many are a combination. In addition to clinical training, each clerkship provides 6-8 hours of didactics each week.

The six required clerkships in the third year are as follows:

• BCC 7184 Primary Care and Special Populations (12 weeks)
• BCC 7144 Inpatient Medicine and Pediatrics (12 weeks)
• BCC 7164 Surgical Care (8 weeks)
• BCC 7154 Neuropsychiatry (8 weeks)
• BCC 7134 Newborn and Maternal Health (4 weeks)
• Emergent and Urgent Care (4 weeks)

Clerkship Objectives

To view the Clerkship Objectives, select a Clerkship from the lists above, or use the drop-down menus below to search by Department.

Clerkship Assessment

Students are assigned grades (Honors, Pass with Commendation, Pass, Fail) based on several forms of assessment. Clinical evaluations from attending physicians are collected and ratings are pooled. Additionally, most clerkships assess student knowledge using either standardized NBME Shelf Examinations or departmentally created multiple choice exams. Other examination strategies include oral examinations and clinical performance exams (CPX) using standardized patients (see below).

Clinical Skills Assessment

As part of a broad assessment to assure competence in core clinical skills, all students complete multi-station, case-based Clinical Performance Exams (CPX) in four of their six junior clerkships. At the end of the third year, each student completes a comprehensive CPX demonstrating competence to reflect all core clinical skills at the end of year three. This multi-station case-based examination uses both Standardized Patients (SPs) and simulators to assess knowledge, skills and behaviors in the care of patients. This exam provides an experience that helps the student to prepare for the Step 2 CS.