Becoming a Physician
The ability to heal is a special privilige. As an MD/PhD, it is particularly challenging to integrate science and medicine. Becoming a skilled physician requires commitment and dedication. The MSTP ensures that students have clinical exposure during all phases of the program. Patient contact, which can be both invigorating and illuminating, begins in the first quarter of instruction and continues through graduation.
Preclinical
The first two years in the Program focus on core courses in the SOM's basic science curriculum. Two afternoons a week are set aside for elective work. This can include graduate or medical courses, preceptorships with physicians, volunteering in a student-run free clinic, or "reading rotations" with faculty. The preclinical medical years culminate in the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE), Step One.
Graduate Years
MSTP trainees continue their medical education during the graduate years through participation in the student-run free clinic, physician-led preceptorships and hospital-sponsored Grand Rounds. Students may work with Drs. Insel or Glass to design their own preceptorships with clinical faculty.
The most popular option for clinical experience is volunteering at a student-run free clinic. Medical students, under close faculty supervision, provide clinical services and practice administration, health education and leadership. Students take patient histories, perform physical exams, present to attending physicians, discuss modalities of treatment, and carry out necessary therapy or referral. In addtion to learning about patient care, community social resources, clinical medicine and pharmacology, volunteering at a free clinic is a wonderful opportunity to provide care to people who otherwise would not receive it.
Clinical Years
Students should plan to return to the wards for year three at the beginning of summer, with the other third year students. The clinical years are the culmination of medical school training as a physician for MSTP trainees. The "core rotations" during third year are Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Psychiatry and Neurology. In the fourth year, students take electives which allow more extensive training in areas of interest, as well as generally useful training in areas such as Radiology, Dermatology, or Anesthesia. Step TwoI of the USMLE Boards is taken in August or March. The clinical practice exam, "CPX," is taken in July or January; the evaluation is based on directed physical examination of 5-6 standardized patients.
