Teaching Activities for Students at HMS

Faculty in the Division are currently involved in all aspects of the curriculum at Harvard Medical School including:

Patient/Doctor I

The introductory course that teaches first-year students to consider topics relating to patients' experiences of illness; to learn the fundamentals of basic communication skills; to discuss social, ethical, and psychological aspects of the doctor-patient relationship; and to develop an ongoing mentoring relationship with a preceptor-clinician.

Patient/Doctor II at BIDMC

A required introduction to clinical medicine course that teaches second-year students physical examination skills, builds competence in interviewing skills, and prepares students for their clerkships.

Core Medicine I Clerkship at BIDMC -- Ambulatory Portion

During the ambulatory portion of the Core Medicine I Clerkship, Harvard Medical School students are given the opportunity to further develop their clinical skills in patient evaluation and management, at the same time becoming acquainted with medical illnesses and problems which are encountered primarily in an ambulatory setting. Each student works with a medicine preceptor for two half-days per week for four weeks. In the course of this activity, the student reviews the natural history, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases found in the outpatient setting. The students also have the opportunity to improve skills in history-taking, physical examination, and development of a differential diagnosis. Attention is paid to performance of a focused, time-limited history and physical exam, as well as planning of diagnostic testing, with appropriate attention to yield, safety and cost. A number of Division attendings serve as ambulatory preceptors for this clerkship each year.

Core Medicine II Clerkship at BIDMC

The design of this program provides fourth-year medical students additional experience in the evaluation and management of patients on the general medical service. Students are fully incorporated into the Firm system where they act as subinterns under the close guidance and supervision of an experienced medical resident and teaching faculty of the Firm.

Other examples of the Division's well known commitment to undergraduate medical education curricula and programs includes the involvement of Division faculty in the HMS "Preventive Medicine and Nutrition" course, the gastroenterology pathophysiology course, and the clinical epidemiology course for first year students.