Clinical Curriculum

Clerkship duration length: 8 weeks

The internal medicine clerkship provides opportunities for students to strengthen medical knowledge, develop patient care skills, and demonstrate professional behavior, all while caring for adults with complex medical conditions in the inpatient settings. Students spend eight weeks, divided into two four-week blocks, assigned to services that include inpatient acute medicine, cardiology, intensive care, and/or an inpatient service specializing in the care of patients with HIV and other infectious diseases. Students closely follow a subset of patients on their teams and are meaningfully involved with all aspects of their patients’ care. Students independently preround, give verbal presentations, write daily notes, and coordinate care with inter professional team members each day. In addition, students are expected to independently study to broaden their medical knowledge and positively impact the care of their patients. Weekly educational conferences further add to students’ development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to the practice of internal medicine. 

Access and download the Medicine Clerkship Goals and Required Clinical Experiences

Clerkship duration length: 8 weeks

The 8-week Surgery Clerkship is structured into two distinct four-week rotations: one focused on General Surgery and another on Selective surgical areas, which include options like Vascular, SICU, Urology, Plastics, Pediatrics, Anesthesia, and Orthopedics. Students actively engage in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with both acute and chronic surgical illnesses, encompassing ambulatory and inpatient cases. This experience spans a wide range of clinical sites across multiple health systems in San Antonio. Students participate in overnight call, providing exposure to Level 1 Adult and Pediatric Verified Trauma Centers and a Pediatric Burn Center. The clerkship features a comprehensive 8-week didactic curriculum, delivered through weekly case-based didactics, covering essential topics such as Trauma, Critical Care, Breast, Soft Tissue, Endocrine, Vascular, and various gastrointestinal surgeries. Practical skills are developed in labs focusing on suture techniques and NG/Foley insertion. Assessments include weekly quizzes and the NBME exam. The primary goals of the Surgery Clerkship are to equip students with a robust foundation of surgical knowledge, develop essential basic technical skills through practical training, and foster professional attitudes necessary for understanding and managing patients with surgical diseases, preparing them for any medical practice.

Access and download the Surgery Clerkship Goals and Required Clinical Experiences

Clerkship duration length: 6 weeks

Family Medicine is a primary care specialty that provides the first contact, ongoing and preventive care to patients of all ages. During the clerkship, you will see a variety of disease presentations at the clinical site(s) you are placed. You will work with family physicians who: deliver individualized patient-centered care in the context of the patient's family and community; provide continuing and comprehensive care; value, develop, nurture and maintain the patient-physician relationship; and have the unique opportunity to care for patients over their lifetime. While your clerkship experience will occur exclusively in the outpatient setting, keep in mind that family physicians are trained to provide comprehensive and continuous care, and practice in various inpatient, outpatient, urgent care and emergency settings based on their interests and the needs of those they serve. 

Access and download the Family Medicine Clerkship Goals and Required Clinical Experiences.

Clerkship duration length: 6 weeks

The Obstetrics & Gynecology clerkship provides students with opportunities to prepare to function as a house officer capable of providing preventive care and treatment or competent to identify the patient’s need for direction into an appropriate care environment.  Supervised direct patient experience occurs in the obstetrical wards, operating room, labor and delivery suite, emergency room, and the obstetrical, gynecologic, family planning, and cancer detection clinics.

Access and download the Obstetrics/Gynecology Clerkship Goals and Required Clinical Experiences.

Clerkship duration length: 6 weeks

The Pediatric clerkship addresses issues unique to childhood and adolescence by focusing on human developmental biology, and by emphasizing the impact of family, community, and society on child health and well-being.  Additionally, the clerkship focuses on the impact of disease and its treatment on the developing human, and emphasizes growth and development, principles of health supervision, and recognition of common health problems.  The role of the pediatrician in prevention of disease and injury and the importance of collaboration between the pediatrician and other health professionals in stressed. During this clerkship, students spend time working in outpatient and inpatient settings.

Access and download the Pediatrics Clerkship Goals and Required Clinical Experiences.

Clerkship duration length: 6 weeks

The Psychiatry Clerkship provides third-year medical students with the knowledge and clinical skills to identify, assess, and manage mental health conditions across a variety of clinical settings. Through clinical experiences, students develop skills in conducting a psychiatric interview, performing mental status examinations, case formulation, and evidence-based treatment planning. Working closely with faculty and residents, students actively participate in patient care while gaining an appreciation for the therapeutic relationship and the biopsychosocial assessment. Interactive didactic seminars reinforce core psychiatric concepts and emphasize the integration of mental health into the care of all patients. The clerkship encourages students to reflect on the physician-patient relationship, cultivate empathy, and better understand how psychological, social, and behavioral factors influence health.

Access and download the Psychiatry Clerkship Goals and Required Clinical Experiences.

Clerkship duration length: 4 weeks

The Emergency Medicine clerkship introduces third year students to the specialty of emergency medicine and reviews principles of emergency care that will benefit a graduate entering any specialty.   Medical students are entrusted with many responsibilities and duties throughout the rotation.

Access and download the Emergency Medicine Clerkship Goals and Required Clinical Experiences.

Clerkship duration length: 4 weeks

The Neurology Clerkship is a 4-week clinical experience consisting of three one-week rotations in the inpatient setting and one week in outpatient clinics. The inpatient clinical sites include the University Hospital and the VA hospital. The inpatient services including UHS wards, UHS consults, UHS stroke, UHS Neuro ICU, UHS epilepsy monitoring unit, UHS Pedi-neuro, and the VA. The outpatient sites include the Centers for Brain Health (CBH), Mays Cancer Center, UT DeZavala clinic, UHS, VA, or local private practice clinics.
 
The Neurology clerkship is designed to expose students to patients with a variety of neurological conditions across multiple clinical settings. The goal of the neurology clerkship is for students to refine their neurological exam skills, recognize abnormal findings, formulate differential diagnoses and basic treatment plans for the most common neurological diseases, and recognize neurological emergencies. 

Access and download the Neurology Clerkship Goals and Required Clinical Experiences.

In ECM Module 1, the focus is on "Professional Communication." Topics include Communication in the Clinical Learning Environment and Difficult Patient Encounters. Completion of the pre-clinical curriculum is required.

In ECM Module 2, the focus is on "Quality, Safety, Value." Topics include Patient-Centered & Cost-Effective Care, Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, and Transitions of Care. Completion of pre-clinical curriculum is required.

In ECM Module 3, the focus is on "Social Concerns in Medicine." Topics include Human Trafficking and Systemic Barriers to Health Care. Completion of pre-clinical curriculum is required.