MD Program Curriculum

Family Medicine Clerkship

The five-week, required clerkship in Family Medicine offers students an introduction to the principles of family medicine and the approach to health care in the ambulatory setting. The primary focus of the clerkship is the office preceptorship. Each student spends approximately 25 hours per week in a family medicine office working closely with physician preceptors and gaining independence in the evaluation and management of common out-patient problems and presentations. Additional activities include: a service-learning experience, rotating on an in-patient family medicine service, Simulated Clinics, home visits and regular case conferences.  

Psychiatry Clerkship

Students will be exposed to the fascinating world of Psychiatry in this 5 week clerkship. During this period, students will be expected to see a broad range of psychiatric illnesses in the Adult and/or Child-Adolescent population. You will emerge with a new appreciation for the major mental disorders, the struggles that patients afflicted with these disorders face in the world, and the breakthroughs in brain science that allow us to more effectively address these illnesses. Students will have an opportunity to participate as a member of a treatment team to devise treatment plans.

The psychiatric clerkship provides the opportunity to develop the understanding and skills need to deal with patients of all kinds. You will acquire new skills in interviewing, which will serve you in whatever discipline of medicine you pursue in the future. We hope to stimulate your curiosity about the human mind and your desire to practice medicine with a comprehensive approach to health and disease. Last, but not least, you will likely learn something about yourself, and become more effective as a physician.

Medicine Clerkship

The 6 week internal medicine clerkship provides exposure to patients with a variety of acute and chronic problems. The medicine clerkship is intended to provide a basic introduction to the practice of inpatient medicine. Instruction in internal medicine occurs in hospital affiliates of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. During the eight weeks, students will learn how to work effectively and efficiently on the inpatient ward and improve their ability to work-up, present, and care for patients with complicated medical and social problems.

Our goals are to give students an appreciation for the challenge and excitement of internal medicine, the opportunity to see and learn from adult patients with a variety of general and subspecialty problems, and didactic instruction in several topics related to ambulatory care. Students receive individualized bedside instruction in patient evaluation from faculty.

Surgery Clerkship

The required course in Surgery at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, consists of an 6-week clerkship in the third year, which is designed to provide basic didactic and practical experience in the evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of patients with disorders that may require treatment by a surgeon.

The aims of surgical education in the third year are as follows. First, the student is to acquire a body of knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for the recognition and management of patients with diseases that may necessitate evaluation by a surgeon. Second, the student is to become familiar with the principles, clinical reasoning, techniques and tools used by surgeons. Finally, the student will observe and adopt the attitudes and attributes that promote good patient relations and management. These include, but are not limited to: patient education, emotional support, rehabilitation, and ethical, legal and financial issues.

Emergency Medicine Clerkship

In the 3 week Emergency Medicine Clerkship, students will develop diagnostic and therapeutic skills in an emergency department setting and will address: Medical Knowledge, Patient Care, Professionalism, Communication and Interpersonal Skills, Practice Based Learning and Improvement, and Systems Based Practice. Students will demonstrate skill in completing an appropriately tailored history and physical exam in the emergent setting, the ability to synthesize an appropriate differential diagnosis for some of the most common emergency department complaints (chest pain, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, blunt trauma, and altered mental status) and create an appropriate workup and treatment plan for these patients. Students must demonstrate a basic understanding of the role of emergency ultrasonography in patient care, the role of prehospital care in trauma and chest pain patients and use ED patient care experiences along with appropriate educational resources to improve their understanding of emergency medicine. Those students interested in Emergency Medicine will have an opportunity to complete a sub-internship in their fourth year.

Neurology Clerkship

The 4 week Neurology Clerkship Course prepares students to develop proficiency in routine neurological evaluation, patient interaction and to introduce the student to treatment of common neurological conditions. Students will learn how to do a complete neurological exam, create a differential diagnosis in Neurology, how to locate disease in the central and peripheral nervous system, patient management of at least three major neurological conditions and evaluation of clinical conditions of the central and peripheral nervous system.

Obstetrics & Gynecology Clerkship

Obstetrics and Gynecology is a fast-paced diverse field of medicine practiced in a variety of settings, both outpatient and inpatient. The 5- week clerkship is designed to introduce the third year medical student to the diagnosis and management of the more common obstetrical and gynecological conditions.

Obstetricians/gynecologists see patients in need of preventive care services as well as those who are experiencing an acute life-threatening obstetric or gynecological issue. Our students will have the opportunity to develop an understanding of the typical medical and surgical problems that occur in a woman's life span, from menarche through menopause and beyond.

During these five week plus in the two-week session, students will be exposed to common obstetric and gynecologic procedures, learn about important topics in women's health and gain a general understanding of the role of an OBGYN. Students will solidify gynecologic history taking abilities and pelvic exam skills.

Pediatric Clerkship

The basis of Pediatrics resides in an understanding of the growth and development of the human organism as it proceeds from birth to adulthood. Pediatrics is, therefore, not an organ-based specialty but one which evaluates the child, both in health and disease, in terms of developmental physiology and its relationship to both family and society. Education within Pediatrics is patient related and interactive. In this 5 week clerkship, the student must learn that infants and children are different from adults in their responses to both the environment and to disease. By understanding the child in terms of developmental biology, psychosocial development, and cognitive development, the student will begin to appreciate that area of medicine which is Pediatrics.

The goal of pediatrics is to provide health care to infants, children, and adolescents. Pediatrics is a primary care subspecialty of medicine, the primary concern of which is the comprehensive and continuing care of children. During this rotation, you will become a part of a health-care team, with a responsibility to care for and treat chronically and acutely ill children. In this process, you will learn about the common pediatric disorders. You will also be responsible for learning health maintenance in children and what it means to be a child advocate.

Every medical student should learn to react with empathy and to exercise sound medical judgment in clinical situations involving children. Since gathering information and performing physical examinations require differing skills according to a child's age, another objective is for all medical students to develop these skills with young patients of various ages. However, the main emphasis in this clerkship is developing students' problem-solving skills. Although the majority of our students will not become pediatricians, every physician should understand normal growth and development, the influence of the environment on health, and the principals of health maintenance.

The Simulated Patient and Introduction to Clerkship Experience (SPICE) is a one-week course designed to introduce students to the third year clinical clerkships. Faculty are involved in teaching a variety of topics including acclimation to the clerkship experience, computer resources, hospital orientation, diagnostic radiology, a clinical procedure workshop, universal precautions, venipuncture training, patient and personal safety in the health care setting, case-based learning, and death and dying.

Clerkship students have the opportunity to convene and reconnect with peers in the Physicianship II course where they expand their understanding of key areas in health systems science and increase ability to meet the quintuple aim — enhance the patient experience, improve population health, reduce costs, improve the work-life balance of health care providers and advance health equity.

Students will explore a variety of topics that bridge the various clinical disciplines, with a focus primarily on health systems: how we deliver health care within the larger system. The course will build on several of the content areas introduced in Physicianship I and II such as communications, ethics, diversity, equity, safety, quality, cost, and teamwork. Students will continue to meet in their Physicianship small groups throughout the academic year and will have the opportunity to reflect on clerkship experiences as they relate to these important topics.

The Selective in Critical Care is the culmination of the required experiences in both Surgery and Medicine/Pediatrics, providing the student with the opportunity to apply the knowledge learned in the third year and gain additional experience in the direct clinical management of acutely ill patients in a critical care environment. This selective is focused on the assessment and management of acutely ill patients in the intensive care unit. The student will actively participate on a critical care team in a surgical or medical unit working with faculty and other care providers. The educational experience will include supervised clinical experiences, didactic lectures, case-based learning, and self-study. 

The ICUs at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) New Brunswick, Hamilton, and Somerset, as well as Monmouth Medical Center, are focused on adult medical and sometimes surgical critically ill patients. The RWJUH PICU is a mixed medical and surgical critical care unit with critically ill pediatric patients. The RWJUH SICU is a surgical critical care unit managing critically injured trauma patients and postoperative patients with a variety of surgical diseases.  

Regardless of the specialty of your ultimate practice, learning to recognize critical illness and beginning the clinical management of acutely ill patients is essential to every physician. Critical care concepts are universal, and the educational experience across all of the rotation sites is robust and rewarding.

Developing the skills to be an effective teacher is essential for every physician. The goals of this course are to prepare senior medical students for their role as teachers and to reinforce the attitudes, skills and knowledge accumulated to date as they teach patient-centered care to others.

A four week sub-internship is required of all fourth-year students. Sub-internships that satisfy this requirement must be designated as a "sub-internship or acting internship" in one of the following disciplines: emergency medicine, family medicine, medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, or surgery. Acceptable sub-internships provide a broad base of experience that is primarily inpatient and where the pathophysiology of disease is emphasized in teaching by attending physicians and residents. Students serve as true acting interns with one-on-one reporting to a resident and attending physician.

Course Directors

Emergency Medicine

Laryssa Patti, lpattila@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Family Medicine

Annie Truss, aet68@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Internal Medicine

David Cohen, davidacohen.md@rutgers.edu
Gabby Ferreira, ferreiga@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Obstetrics/Gynecology

Gary Ebert, ebertga@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Pediatrics

Sirisha Yalamanchi, sirisha.yalamanchi@rutgers.edu
Sarah Yavelberg, sbr72@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Surgery

Susannah Wise, ssw1x@rwjms.rutgers.edu

The Summative Objective Standardized Clinical Examination (OSCE) is a seven-station examination to assess clinical competency in history taking skills, patient encounter documentation, and identification of key electrocardiogram (EKG) and radiological findings. Standardized patients are utilized to simulate common clinical scenarios that students have encountered during the third year of medical school. 

Students are required to complete the Summative OSCE. They will participate in clinical coaching and career mentoring to ensure they are able to customize their fourth year.

Every fourth-year student has a Transition to Residency experience in the field that best prepares them for their internship year. This experience provides a great opportunity to learn practicalities and increase your comfort in transitioning from a fourth-year student to a first-year resident. The Transition to Residency curriculum focuses on preparing students for the tasks, procedures, and skills that their residency will expect them to perform. Transition to Residency courses are offered in block 9 and block 10.

Course Directors

Anesthesia

• Sagar Mungekar, sagarmsrwjms.rutgers.edu

Emergency Medicine

• Amanda Esposito, amanda.esposito.md@rutgers.edu

Family Medicine

• Michael Song, ms2318@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Medicine

• Mary O'Connor, oconnom2@rwjms.rutgers.edu
• Stephen Priest, sp2122@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Obstetrics/Gynecology

• Anthony Monteiro, am3094@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Pediatrics

• James Luckey, jtl112@rwjms.rutgers.edu
• Dan Kaplan, dbk71@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Psychiatry

• Roseanne Dobkin, dobkinro@rwjms.rutgers.edu  

Surgery

• Jenny Cai, jencai@rwjms.rutgers.edu