Clerkship Curriculum

The integrated clerkships feature 12-week interdisciplinary clerkship blocks, with opportunities for continuity, flexibility and integration. These clerkship blocks are organized around themes:

• The Medical Approach to the Patient (Internal Medicine and Neurology),
• The Surgical Approach to the Patient (Surgery and Emergency Medicine),
• Women and Children’s Health (Obstetrics & Gynecology and Pediatrics), and
• Biopsychosocial Approach to Health (Primary Care, Psychiatry and Pediatrics).

Each block begins with a shared “Precede” experience to that brings all students together to focus on topics and skills that build developmentally as the year progresses. Following the Shared precede period, students will enter their respective clerkship blocks where they will begin with a “boot camp” that focuses on knowledge, skills and behaviors specifically related to the specialties featured in that clerkship.

Click here for the Medical Student Clerkship Evaluation Form

Surgical Approach to the Patient (SAP) is a 12-week integrated clerkship block that is comprised of Surgery and Emergency Medicine rotations. As disciplines with a heavy emphasis on procedures and management of acute disease, Surgery and Emergency Medicine share didactic sessions and simulation-based training over the course of the rotation. An appreciation of the basic and clinical sciences, critical thinking and problem-solving in a fast-paced varied environment will be experienced by learners. Given the complexity of patients with acute and critical illness, a high degree of professionalism and emotional intelligence is an essential skill during these rotations.

Women’s and Children's Health (WCH) is a 12-week integrated clerkship block that is comprised of Pediatrics with Obstetrics & Gynecology (OB/GYN). The combination of these two disciplines allows students to experience and appreciate the continuum in health between women and children. Students experience this interconnectedness through their clinical encounters, integrated didactics, and a combined postcede at the end of the integrated clerkship block.

Biopsychosocial Approach to the Patient (BAH) is a 12-week integrated clerkship block comprised of Psychology and Primary Care. Integration of training in Primary Care and Psychiatry occurs in two areas. First, in didactics, all students assemble together to complete “Top Ten” workshops on topics spanning both disciplines, e.g., assessment of competency, treatment of chronic pain, motivational interviewing, diagnosis and treatment of somatic symptoms, addressing social determinants of health. Additionally, students participate in three individual workshops a) introduction and rationale for the biopsychosocial approach with readings (e.g., George Engel, Barbara Starfield), b) clinical approach to the biopsychosocial model and c) how patients access community health and psychiatric resources. In the clinical realm, many sites have embedded psychiatric services, e.g., West Haven VA Medical Center, the New Haven Health Consortium, Cornell Scott Hill Federally Qualified Health Center, and Yale Internal Medicine Associates. Course Directors (CDs) communicate with preceptors at all sites before students arrive, emphasizing the clerkship’s goal to teach a holistic approach to patient care. Additionally, to promote exchange of ideas across Primary Care and Psychiatry faculty, CDs prepare and host regular evening faculty development events focusing on topics of interest to both Primary Care and Psychiatry faculty.

Medical Approach to the Patient (MAP) is a 12-week integrated clerkship block that is comprised of Internal Medicine and Neurology rotations. The course is structured to give clerkship students in-depth experience with the diagnosis and management of adult medical issues. Because of the significant clinical overlap between internal medicine and neurology, these two components are combined to form the MAP experience. Students will rotate through eight weeks of internal medicine and four weeks of neurology during their MAP experience. In addition to rotation-specific didactics, students will attend the “Top Ten” series of didactics throughout their MAP block, covering common chief complaints that encompass diagnoses specific to internal medicine and neurology.