Volunteering Opportunities
The Sharewood Project is always looking for physician volunteers. See the Sharewood website to contact their volunteer coordinator and learn more.
Teaching Opportunities
If you are interested in teaching at TUSM, please contact Donna Merrick in the Office of Educational Affairs at donna.merrick@tufts.edu or 617.636.2401.
PHYSICAL DIAGNOSIS
The second-year course, Physical Diagnosis, consists of 15 full-day sessions held at Tufts- affiliated hospitals and physician offices. Each group of students spends every Wednesday from January through April at the same hospital/clinic site. Since the emphasis of the course is patient contact and bedside/exam table teaching, attendance at all sessions is mandatory for satisfactory completion of the course.
Students work in pairs and select their own partners, with agreement on hospital preference. Hospitals are chosen by lottery conducted by the Office of Educational Affairs (OEA). Upon completion of the course, students should have learned the basic techniques of history taking and physical examination.
Write-ups of the histories and physicals are an important part of the learning process and are reviewed by a clinician on a weekly basis. A written examination and exam with a Standardized Patient is held at TUSM at the end of the course. Evaluation is based on the student’s skills, motivation, interpersonal relations, fund of knowledge and other factors.
PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING (PBL) PROGRAM
Objectives:
- Develop learning and communication skills, including problem-based and self-directed learning, critical reasoning, teaching and group skills.
- Integrate basic science knowledge with clinical medicine.
- Identify and explore learning opportunities which may not be available in the rest of the curriculum.
Faculty are needed to serve as facilitators for PBL small groups of first- and second-year students meeting for two hours once per week to discuss a clinical case. The case serves as the focal point for the discussion of basic principles, formulation of hypotheses and the development of various learning skills. Faculty are trained during an all-day workshop. Once trained, faculty can facilitate by semester or by year, can aid in PBL case-writing, and can serve on planning committees.
PRIMARY CARE PRECEPTORSHIP PROGRAM
Objectives:
- Gain appreciation of a primary care practice.
- Acquire basic clinical skills in medical interviewing, physical examination and patient education.
- Integrate clinical skills with basic science curriculum.
The program matches interested first-year medical students with community-based physicians in the primary care specialties of internal medicine, pediatrics and family medicine. Students work in the physicians’ offices one 1/2 day per week (Tuesday afternoons during their prescribed Selective time block) from October through April, during their first and second years of medical school. Students maintain a weekly log and meet bimonthly with the program director, Dr. Geoffrey Burns, to review clinical skills and discuss primary care issues. Preceptors and students meet together on three occasions throughout the year. Issues related to the administration of a primary care practice are also discussed.
SELECTIVES PROGRAM
Traditional first and second year students are required to participate in the Selective Program on Tuesday afternoons for a minimum of two hours per week in 10-week blocks. Students are required to satisfactorily complete four blocks within the first two years of medical school. Faculty are needed to serve as preceptors in Selectives that provide students with a range of experiences that are relevant to their future practice of medicine yet are beyond the basic science preclinical curriculum. Students are offered participation in seminars, and clinical, laboratory or community experiences that involve one student or a group of students supervised by a preceptor. Students can also arrange Selectives on an independent basis. Each Selective must have a clear course description, goals and learning objectives defined with oversight from the faculty and/or Selective subcommittee.
CLINICAL SKILLS
Clinical Skills, the first-year course, teaches basic physical exam skills by system in the spring. Clinical instructors are needed for Wednesday and Thursday practice sessions, 5:30-7:00 pm, approximately 11 weeks, January through early May.
MEDICAL INTERVIEWING AND THE DOCTOR-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP
This first-year fall course introduces students to the art of the medical interview. The course director conducts large group lectures, often with guest speakers, followed by small group teaching. Facultyare needed as preceptors to lead small groups which interview either hospitalized or ambulatory patients. Clinicians with special interests such as domestic violence, substance abuse, addictive behaviors, etc., are welcome to bring their ideas to the course director.
For more information, please contact Donna Merrick, donna.merrick@tufts.edu, 617.636.2401.
