PREREQUISITES AND PLACEMENT IN THE CURRICULUM: Completion of M2 Year; Year Three
PURPOSE: The purpose of the Essentials of Clinical Practice and Professionalism (ECPP) course is to assist third year medical students in preparing for their clerkships by providing training and resources that will help them excel. This course builds upon the foundation established in the Essentials of Clinical Medicine course (ECM), by reinforcing clinical competency as well as social and cognitive skills. It combines lectures, small group exercises, and hands-on clinical practice to achieve these goals.
INSTRUCTIONAL FEATURES: ECPP was developed in response to two events. First, results of the M4 clinical skills exam pilot project in the winter of 2003-2004 showed that significant numbers of students had not mastered basic clinical skills regarded as appropriate graduation competencies. These findings also led to the development by the College Committee on Instruction and Appraisal to assemble a "Technical Procedures and Skills List" that includes procedures in which the graduating student should be able to demonstrate competency as well as those that the student should have observed.
The second impetus for ECPP was the need to ensure that students receive reinforcement in the graduation competencies established by the College of Medicine, that parallel the ACGME general competencies for residents (see www.acgme.org for details). These competencies include areas relating to communication skills and professionalism, and therefore a second objective is to provide instruction and practice in these areas.
ASSESSMENT: ECPP evaluation is based upon the direct observation of skills, attitudes, and problem solving abilities, thus students must be present at all sessions. Performance will be rated as satisfactory and unsatisfactory. Failure to attend any of the course components may result in a grade of "Needs Remediation" which could result in an overall grade of "Unsatisfactory" if the problem persists. As with other clinical grades, an "Unsatisfactory" in ECPP will trigger a "Drop" recommendation from the Student Advancement Committee.
POLICY ON MISSED SESSIONS: The ECP&P course is a graduation requirement, and like other graduations requirements must be satisfactorily completed in its entirety. If a student misses Week One, he/she will be required to make up Week One with the M3 class the following year. Special permission must be granted by the Associate Dean for Curriculum to begin clerkships or Week Two prior to taking Week One of ECP&P.
If a student has a viable excuse for missing any portion of Week One, he/she should contact the ECP&P course staff directly. This will be dealt with on a case by case basis. Week Two of ECP&P consists of six dates spread across the M3 year. If a student misses one of the six dates, he/she will be required to make up the same missed date the following year. (ECP&P cannot require a site to release a student to make up a date, so students need to take one of the days that would normally be used for interviewing, etc.)
Only when these requirements have been completely satisfied will a final grade for ECP&P be awarded.
Program Number: CLER 608
Location: UIC
Program Director: Anne Gunderson, FNP, PhD, David Mayer, MD, Maureen Valaski, MHPE
Telephone: 312-996-8580
E-Mail: mvalaski@uic.edu
Duration: 2 Weeks Credit/One week in June plus decompressed days across the M3 year
Night Call: No
Weekends: No
Students Accepted: All
Housestaff Used as Faculty: Yes
Lectures/Conferences/Faculty Contact:
Laboratory/Independent Study:
Outpatient:
Inpatient:
Total Hours/Week:
Key Words: clinical skills, communication skills, professionalism, preparation for clerkships, problem solving abilities, clinical competency
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