In the clinical years of medical education, students learn the practice of medicine in the "real world." While each clerkship site is unique and types of clinical problems encountered may vary, a core curriculum is maintained at all sites. To help standardize clinical training, we have defined a set of common topics (see below) and clinical competencies for the clerkship. Students should have exposure to most of these common conditions/medical problems at the completion of the rotation. Those preceded by an asterisk and in bold print are required core clerkship topics. All students are required to gain a basic knowledge in treating patients with these conditions/problems. Learning opportunities for these core clerkship topics include patient encounters, lectures and didactics, reading and completion of computer cases. It is the responsibility of the students to ensure that they have gained adequate proficiency in each of the required topics. If you have difficulty mastering any of these topics, please seek assistance from your site director or Dr. Shou Ling Leong, the clerkship director.

 

fmCASES (http://www.med-u.org/) is a set of web-based virtual patient cases developed to teach the national Family Medicine curriculum defined by the Society of Teachers of family Medicine. These case studies are useful tutorials to help you achieve the core competencies by filling in gaps in your clinical experiences, to reinforce existing knowledge, and refine problem-solving and clinical skills.  As part of the clerkship assignment, you are required to complete 10 fmCASES. You will be given a handout with specific instruction on the cases during orientation.