Courses

FMED. 350 Family Medicine Clerkship

During third year, students complete a required six-week clerkship in Family Medicine. Students rotate at family medicine locations throughout the tri-state area, various community sites and subspecialty clinics, to provide exposure to the breadth of the specialty. All of the students participate in a quality improvement and health disparities curricular project where they learn about foundational principles of quality improvement and how to apply these to improve the care of vulnerable populations.

During Phase 3, you will have the opportunity to work on more advanced core competencies as well as develop knowledge and skills specific to your career pathway. With successful completion of Phase 3, you will be well on your way to transitioning to your new role as an intern.

FMED.401 Outpatient Subinternship 

Course Director: Barbara Cymring, MD
Duration: 4 weeks
Students are given progressive responsibility, with supervision, for outpatient care. For the senior taking this course early in the academic year, emphasis is on developing skills in formulating an assessment and plan. For the advanced senior student, further teaching emphasis is on patient management and acute care. Students will enhance interpersonal skills in interview technique, understanding of the dynamics of the physician-patient relationship, and the reaction towards illness of physicians, patients, and the family. Students will develop primary care diagnostic and psychosocial skills, promoting a positive transition to the intern year. Students will self-identify specific educational objectives for the course. Examples include honing physical exam skills, improving interview skills, improving time management skills, learning about practice planning, and financial management. 

FMED. 402 Inpatient Subinternship

Course Director: Barbara Cymring, MD
Duration: 4 weeks
Students encounter the diverse range of medical conditions and complex multiple diagnoses typical of hospitalized patients and learn comprehensive patient management for hospitalized patients. The inpatient subinternship student in Family Medicine assumes a high level of responsibility for patient management. The student pre-rounds on their patients in the morning, checks labs, and writes orders. The student presents succinctly to the attending and resident team the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment plan, and is the primary point of care for the patient throughout their hospitalization. Medical, social, economic and psychological factors are addressed. Students participate in family meetings, including end-of-life and other complex decision-making processes. The student communicates with the patients’ ambulatory physician, interacts with consultants, and arranges all necessary follow-up and aftercare. 

FMED. 405 Palliative Care

Course DIrector: Kathleen Mechler, MD
Duration: 4 weeks
The student functions as a full-member of the Palliative Care team and rounds with the team on a daily basis. Responsibilities include seeing and evaluating patients, writing consultative notes, presenting to the Palliative Care team and communicating with the primary team about palliative care recommendations. Students will participate and attend weekly didactic and Inter-Disciplinary Team (IDT) meetings with faculty, staff, palliative care fellows and residents. Students will present a difficult case during weekly conference. Additionally, students will have an opportunity to participate in ongoing research projects or start their own research project.

FMED. 406 Geriatric Subinternship

Course Director: Lauren Hersh, MD
Duration: 4 weeks
Students are given responsibility for care of geriatric patients in a variety of settings including academic and community-based primary care geriatric practices, home visits, palliative care and geriatric consultation, geriatric assessment, and rehabilitation and long-term care settings. Students participate in weekly didactic and case-based geriatric conferences and clinical team meetings. Students develop primary care/geriatric diagnostic, and psychosocial skills, promoting a positive transition to the intern year. Students self-identify specific educational objectives for the course such as balancing priorities for patients with multiple chronic conditions and providing patient- and family-centered care for older adults.

FMED. 407 Community Engagement Experience

Course Director: Robert Motley, MD
Duration: 4 weeks
Students spend time attending and participating in community-based health education programs (including diabetes self-management, weight management, asthma, nutrition, and breast health), screenings (including stroke, diabetes, blood pressure, and cholesterol) and meetings with the Jefferson Community Health Collaborative staff. Programs include the Healthy Corner Store Initiative, the STARS Advocacy Café at Nemours Pediatrics, diabetes group visit classes, diabetes prevention telehealth visits, Jeff Hope clinic, and school health fairs and sports physicals. The student functions as a full member of the Jefferson Community Health Collaborative staff. By the end of the course, students are expected to write a paper on a topic of their choice. This is an opportunity to explore an issue that they would like to learn more about, or follow-up on an experience they may have had in the clinic or in the community.

FMED. 409 Homeless Care Continuum

Course Director: Lara Weinstein
Duration: 4 weeks
Students spend time attending and participating in community-based health education programs (including diabetes self-management, weight management, asthma, nutrition, and breast health), screenings (including stroke, diabetes, blood pressure, and cholesterol) and meetings with the Jefferson Community Health Collaborative staff. Programs include the Healthy Corner Store Initiative, the STARS Advocacy Café at Nemours Pediatrics, diabetes group visit classes, diabetes prevention telehealth visits, Jeff Hope clinic, and school health fairs and sports physicals. The student functions as a full member of the Jefferson Community Health Collaborative staff. By the end of the course, students are expected to write a paper on a topic of their choice. This is an opportunity to explore an issue that they would like to learn more about, or follow-up on an experience they may have had in the clinic or in the community.

FMED. 413 Maternal-Child Health (MCH) in Family Medicine

Course Director: Joshua Barash, MD
Duration: 4 weeks
This is a rigorous elective geared towards the student who plans to pursue a career in Family Medicine or Obstetrics. The student participates in outpatient and inpatient obstetrics in Family Medicine, gynecologic clinics and outpatient surgeries, as well as outpatient and inpatient newborn care. Requirements include daily early morning rounds (postpartum and newborn patients), weekly overnight call, weekly labor and delivery coverage, outpatient office hours, and attendance at all morning reports and grand rounds. In the last week of the rotation, the student prepares an oral presentation for the MCH team.

FMED. 425 Research

Course Director: Randa Sifri, MD
Duration: 4 weeks/2 weeks
This course will provide the student with a concentrated research experience within this specialty discipline. The specific research project and tasks will be agreed upon by the student and faculty advisor/PI, and approved by the departmental research course director.

FMED. 427 Clinical Mentorship Elective

Course Director: Robert Motley, MD
Duration: 4 weeks
Students work with an experienced family physician in a community setting and participate in the daily life of the practice. The community practice experience will provide opportunities to appreciate population health in the contexts of prevention, treatment, family and community. Students are encouraged to engage the doctor and members of the practice team as they use individual, team, and systems-based approaches to patient care. Students may see patients in a variety of care settings and are encouraged to work on assessment and treatment planning skills. In addition, students should focus on the following aspects of the clinicians’ practice: scope of practice, relationships with colleagues in procedural specialties, hospitalists, home care, long-term care, and school-based settings.