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School of Medicine
Clinical Sciences Program
Clinical Sciences Curriculum:
The third year of medical school consists of forty-two weeks of core rotations. These are structured experiences required of all students regardless of where they train. The core rotations consist of twelve weeks of medicine, twelve weeks of surgery and six weeks each of psychiatry, pediatrics, and obstetrics/gynecology. These core rotations traditionally form the foundation for all medical students regardless of future specialty. In addition to the core rotations, all students must complete four weeks of primary care, a four-week medicine subinternship, a four-week medicine elective and a four-week pediatric subinternship or elective and 22 weeks of electives in order to graduate.
Clinical Sciences Courses
Clinical Sciences (80 wks.) |
|
Core Clerkship Year |
|
Medicine |
12 weeks |
Senior Year |
|
Medicine Subinternship |
4 weeks |
*Family practice; emergency medicine; or outpatient experience in general medicine, general pediatrics, or general obstetrics/gynecology |
|
Affiliated Clinical Centers and Hospitals
The St. George’s University approach to clinical sciences education provides students with the opportunity to learn medicine in some of the best and best-known hospitals in the world. Located in the United States and the United Kingdom, some of these hospitals have been designated by the University as Clinical Centers. A Clinical Center is a hospital or group of hospitals able to provide at least four of the five core rotations, train 80–100 students at all times, and additionally offer subinternships, primary care and elective rotations. The Clinical Centers allow students to complete all of their clinical training at one site if they wish.
The clerkships at these hospitals conform to the curriculum, course descriptions and educational goals of St. George’s University School of Medicine and are monitored carefully through site visits and faculty meetings. All core rotations and subinternships must be taken only in those hospitals with which the University has an active, written affiliation agreement, and in which there are appropriate St. George’s University clinical faculty members. In these hospitals, there exist Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)–approved residency training programs (or their British equivalents) in the subjects to be studied. Any other hospital in which electives are taken must also have approved postgraduate programs in the areas of training offered.
In the Clinical Sciences years, students are taught by over 800 clinicians. In addition to clinical teachers, the School of Medicine appoints a Director of Medical Education at every Clinical Center and affiliated hospital, and Clerkship Directors in each of the core clinical specialties studied there. Site visits from the Office of Clinical Studies to affiliated hospitals occur regularly. This allows the School Administration to meet with students and faculty throughout the Clinical Sciences years. Departmental meetings are held at least twice a year to maintain and improve the strength of the departmental structure, and to support ongoing evaluation of the curriculum, program delivery, evaluation and testing procedures.
Education Goals and Objectives
The clinical years use an educational method based on the practical experience found in hospitals and clinics under careful supervision by practicing physicians. In this setting students develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to continue into post-graduate training. The knowledge acquired in the basic science years serves as a base to learn the facts and concepts necessary to understand the practice of modern medicine. For all core rotations, the University has required reading assignments, and the hospitals offer small group teaching sessions, conferences and lectures.
Clinical skills introduced in Grenada now become a major component of students’ education. In the hospital, students are involved in the healthcare of patients and develop diagnostic decision-making skills, history and physical examination skills and test interpretation skills. Students learn to communicate with patients, their families and other healthcare workers. Students are expected to grow into their role as a professional.
During the clinical years we emphasize responsibility, maturity and compassion as important attributes in the development of professional excellence. A student is expected to learn how to conduct him/herself in a professional role as a physician and will be judged on the ability to take responsibility, to relate to and work harmoniously with professional colleagues, to exhibit maturity in conduct on the wards, and to demonstrate that he/she is successfully acquiring all of the attributes that would make him/her a mature and qualified physician.
| Clinical Science Program | |
| 80 Weeks |
| Core Clerkship Year | |
| Medicine | 12 weeks |
| Surgery | 12 weeks |
| Pediatrics | 6 weeks |
| Obstetrics/Gynecology | 6 weeks |
| Psychiatry | 6 weeks |
| Senior Year | |
| Medicine Subinternship | 4 weeks |
| Primary Care* | 4 weeks |
| Medicine Elective | 4 weeks |
| Pediatric Elective or Subinternship | 4 weeks |
| Additional Electives | 22 weeks |
*Family practice; emergency medicine; or outpatient experience in general medicine, general pediatrics, or general obstetrics/gynecology
Primary Care Rotation
Students formally experience full-time outpatient medicine in a variety of settings. The exact format of the four week period is determined by the amount of outpatient experience the student has had during core rotations and by his or her personal interests. Rotations can take place at community-based outpatient clinics in medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, or Obstetrics/Gynecology or emergency departments.
The student learns to obtain pertinent history and to perform a problem-oriented physical examination, as well as to order cost-effective diagnostic tests generally available to outpatient practitioners. The student works closely with the attending physician, allied health professionals, and the social service agencies available in the community.
Subinternships
A subinternship continues the educational goals and objectives of the core rotation, but at a more advanced level and with greater responsibility. The subintern shares patient responsibility and participates in regularly scheduled night and weekend calls and follows a limited number of patients very closely throughout the diagnostic workup and case management. In this way the sub-internship prepares the student for his or her internship or first postgraduate year. A four-week medicine subinternship, four-week medicine elective, and four-week pediatric subinternship or elective are mandatory for all students.
Electives
Electives are offered at the University’s Clinical Centers and affiliated hospitals. Additional electives are available at hospitals outside the University systems, but these are subject to the review and approval of the Dean of the School of Medicine. The student who seeks licensure in the US should carefully note that the licensing boards of some states require that students take electives only at affiliated hospitals. This will also be true in other countries. The University requires that each clerkship (whether core or elective) be completed at a hospital with an ACGME-approved residency in that specialty. Licensing regulations may vary from state to state, and from one year to the next. Thus, this matter must be considered as the student devises an elective program. Each elective is usually at least four weeks long; electives of less than four weeks require the specific review and written approval of the Dean.
General Strategy: The principal objective of the elective program is to provide the best preparation for the student’s career choice, while coordinating a balanced yet broad clinical experience. In recognition of the individual plans and needs of each student, choices of both subject matter and course location are made by the student with advice from supervising clinical teachers and with the approval of the Dean.
Details about each of the core rotations are found under the departmental descriptions.
