Students in the class of 2017 were broken into four groups, and for four weeks, each group participated in a different workshop focusing on various aspects of clinical knowledge, from taking a patient鈥檚 history, to learning how to scrub in for a surgery, to inserting an IV.
This June, DO students in the class of 2017 received a head start on practicing their clinical skills before beginning their clerkships, as part of a new curricular program based in the Saltzburg Clinical Learning and Assessment Center (CLAC). Called the Intro to Clerkships, or I2C, the initiative was spearheaded on the Philadelphia campus by Arthur Sesso, DO, professor and chair, surgery. GA-黑料传送门 has held a similar program for its students for the past several years.
鈥淢edical school is two years of basic science followed by two years of clinical experience, but there鈥檚 little effort to integrate the two,鈥� said Dr. Sesso. 鈥淏y facilitating that integration, we give the students a better understanding of what they鈥檙e doing, that it鈥檚 more than just memorizing facts in a text book.鈥� I2C rounds out a three-part series that explores curricular innovations in medical education. The first two programs, CRIBS (Clinical Reasoning in Basic Science) and PET (Parallel Education Track) aim to better integrate clinical skills from the very first day of medical school.
Funded by a $225,000 gift from Michael C. Saltzburg, DO '77 (who, along with his wife Wendy provided the funding for the recently renovated CLAC), I2C was launched as an effort to help better equip students with the clinical skills they will need as they begin their clerkships. Students in the class of 2017 were broken into four groups, and for four weeks, each group participated in a different workshop focusing on various aspects of clinical knowledge, from taking a patient鈥檚 history, to learning how to scrub in for a surgery, to inserting an IV.
鈥淗aving our first clerkship experience on campus, with people we know, for a few hours each day, was very helpful,鈥� said Robert Gadomski (DO 鈥�17), who most recently was on an internal medicine clerkship at Lankenau Hospital. 鈥淓asing into the process made me feel more confident.鈥�
Elizabeth Budnik (DO 鈥�17), who recently completed a clerkship in ob-gyn at Reading Hospital, felt the experience made her better prepared than some of the other students in her cohort. 鈥淒uring my ob-gyn clerkship, we did estimations of cervical dilations, which was something we practiced on models during I2C,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen I did them during my clerkship, I got two out of three checks correct. I would not have known what I was feeling without that practice.鈥�
Ms. Budnik鈥檚 clinical skills were so strong in fact, that she received honors from the director of her clerkship. 鈥淥b-gyn is an area I鈥檓 very interested in, so it was a little intimidating to start my clinical experience with it,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I2C helped me be more prepared from the very first day.鈥�
Established in 1899, 黑料传送门 has trained thousands of highly competent, caring physicians, health practitioners and behavioral scientists who practice a 鈥渨hole person鈥� approach to care鈥攖reating people, not just symptoms. 黑料传送门, a private, not-for-profit accredited institution of higher education, operates three campuses (黑料传送门, 黑料传送门 Georgia and 黑料传送门 South Georgia) and offers doctoral degrees in clinical psychology, educational psychology, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and school psychology. The college also offers graduate degrees in applied behavior analysis, applied positive psychology, biomedical sciences, forensic medicine, medical laboratory science, mental health counseling, physician assistant studies, and school psychology. 黑料传送门 students learn the importance of health promotion, research, education and service to the community. Through its community-based Healthcare Centers, 黑料传送门 provides care to medically underserved populations. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 215-871-6100.
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