Skip navigation and go directly to main content.
Chronic Care Clerkship - Conjoint 690

Course Organization

The major integrative teaching experiences will take place during first day and last day didactic sessions at the University where basic issues will be introduced and patient cases discussed. All students will attend these sessions, and be actively involved in discussions and group centered learning. Educational techniques of case discussions, standardized patients and student case presentations will be included as learning activities.

Students will also be able to register to a single major clinical focus for the four weeks: rehabilitation and physical medicine, geriatric medicine, acute and chronic pain, or palliative care and end of life services. Students in each focus area may be involved in ward or clinic experiences, or other non-traditional clinically relevant activities. All students will conduct at least one visit to a patient's home or extended care/hospice facility. Students may accompany preceptors on visits to nursing homes, or be involved with home care such as home health or hospice team members visits in the community. The nature and balance of these experiences will be unique to each clinical focus, chosen to illustrate issues and content specific to the area. While these clinical experiences will be unique for each focus, attempts will be made to insure that the clinical experiences are fairly distributed. The total required contact hours for the course will be limited to 50 hours per week. Relevant clinical department or services will design and manage these activities. Descriptions of student requirements and activities for all clinical services are included in other web pages.

Students will use the knowledge and insights they have gained from their individual clinical experiences and readings to help educate each other during case discussions and other activities occurring in didactic sessions. For example, students working in the geriatric medicine focus will be expected to help students working in palliative care and rehabilitation understand the major geriatric issues presented in a case. Through the experiences of working in a single focus and discussing common issues to patients and families from all areas, we hope that students will be able to develop an integrated sense of how patients and families deal with chronic illness and the role of physicians, other professionals, and the health system in their care.

Top of Page