Teaching Opportunities at TUSM

This first-year fall course introduces students to the art of the medical interview. Faculty are needed to lead small groups which interview either hospitalized or ambulatory patients. The goals of the course are to provide an introductory experience in talking to patients and to learn about the patient’s experience of illness.

The course takes place on Wednesdays from the end of August through the beginning of November. For more information please contact the course director, Dr. Jody Schindelheim, at Jody.Schindelheim@tuftsmedicine.org.

The Physical Diagnosis course focuses on the fundamental skills of the basic physical examination. Faculty teach not only the components of each portion of the physical exam, but importantly, why each portion of the exam may be conducted. Faculty describe normal findings on the physical exam and help learners appreciate what abnormal findings may mean. The course uses a combination of didactic-style lectures, hands-on practice sessions, clinical-application case lectures, and includes a final OSCE exam facilitated by standardized patients.

Physician Diagnosis runs from December through June during the 1st year of medical school. Faculty can participate in lectures or practice sessions during business hours and/or facilitating hands-on sessions in the Simulation Center in evenings 5-8:30pm.

For more information please contact the program administrator, Donna Merrick, at donna.merrick@tufts.edu.

The goals of the PBL course are to:

• Develop learning and communication skills, including self-directed learning and critical reasoning.
• Integrate basic science knowledge with clinical medicine.
• Establish the attitudes and practice the skills that will create a strong foundation for life- long learning.

Faculty can serve as facilitators for PBL small groups of first year students meeting for two hours once per week to discuss a clinical case. In this setting, faculty facilitators are not required nor expected to be content experts in the basic science or clinical issues developed in the case.
Faculty are trained during a 2-1/2 hour workshop. Once trained, faculty can facilitate by semester or by year.

For more information please contact the program administrator, Donna Merrick, at donna.merrick@tufts.edu.

This course begins in the early spring of 1st year and continues throughout 2nd year (March through January) in each academic year. The ICR Course helps students develop evidence-based medicine and clinical reasoning skills. The course starts with a total of 5 sessions devoted to evidence-based medicine principles, such as determining the value of a diagnostic test and evaluating practice guidelines. Thereafter, ICR groups meet 1-2 times per month to discuss a total of 14 cases – such as pelvic pain, altered mental status, or pediatric fever – and work on reasoning and diagnostic skills within each case.

For more information please contact the course director, Dr. Scott Epstein at scott.epstein@tufts.edu or the course administrator and Director of Curriculum, Nicole Love Crandall at nicole.lovecrandall@tufts.edu.

This course helps students develop clinical skills learned in Interviewing and in Physical Diagnosis, and to integrate effectively into a clinical setting. One full Monday between August and January of 2nd year, pairs of students travel to a primary care office where they will do some shadowing and see some patients on their own, practicing those communication and exam skills.

Please contact Dr. Clinton Pong, CAP course director at clinton.pong@tufts.edu or course director Dr. Ryan Walker at ryan.walker@tufts.edu with questions or if you would like to participate in any form.

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The Department of Medical Education invites Clinical or Basic Science faculty to participate in the teaching of our Medical Clinical Anatomy course. The course consists of lectures, laboratory dissections and small group sessions involving the Extremities, Thorax, Abdomen, Pelvis and Head and Neck regions. We are particularly interested to have clinical faculty in these areas assist students with their lab dissections while also relating the basic anatomy to practical situations.

Those who are interested may contact Dr. Robert Willson, PhD, at rob.willson@tufts.edu or at 617-636-6607.

The Perspectives in Medicine course runs in a longitudinal manner throughout 1st and 2nd year, weaving concepts of population health, health systems science, personal and professional development, and the patient experience into the basic sciences and organ systems content.

The Perspectives in Medicine course directors often reach out to faculty with particular expertise or experience in a given area of the curriculum, however, opportunities also arise for faculty engagement leading small groups or reflection sessions. For additional information about how you may get involved, please contact the Perspectives in Medicine course director Dr. Sarah Rosenberg-Scott at sarah.scottmd@tufts.edu or the course administrator and Director of Curriculum, Nicole Love Crandall at Nicole.lovecrandall@tufts.edu.

The End-of-Core-Clerkship Objective Structured Clinical Examination (EoCC OSCE) is a high-stakes evaluation that each student takes as they complete their Core Clerkships. The evaluation consists of 7-8 encounters with standardized patients (SPs) that present with various medical concerns. Clinical encounters are selected to span specialties, from Pediatrics to Surgery to Psychiatry; a student may encounter a SP with, for example, headache, abdominal pain, amenorrhea, or anxiety.

Each student-SP is video recorded. Faculty for the EoCC OSCE watch student videos remotely and assess students’ competence in domains of history-taking, physical exam, and communication skills. Faculty are asked to provide general feedback for the student about their performance. Faculty also review the student’s write-up and assess clinical reasoning for the encounter.

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Organ systems courses begin in November of the 1st year of medical school and are conducted sequentially through the end of the 2nd year of medical school. The schematic of the organ systems courses is shown below, to give an idea of the sequencing and general timing of each course.

Each organ systems course is led by a Course Director, typically a clinician in that specialty, who works closely with other faculty to deliver the course material. Course Directors rely on faculty with expertise in the content to help deliver these small group sessions.  As such, we regularly seek faculty to lead small group sessions as each course is being planned and delivered.

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The goal of this program is to provide first year medical students opportunities to interact with practicing physicians/clinicians or others who act as preceptors, role models and informal advisors.

The Selectives are held once per week for four weeks. Each session is a minimum of three hours. Sessions are scheduled on Tuesday afternoons.

For more information please contact the program administrator, Kasia Michalek, kasia.michalek@tufts.edu.

The TUSM – CSSC offers a unique teaching opportunity to engage medical trainees through active firsthand experiences. Placed in simulated clinical milieu, learners are exposed to a myriad of medical situations in which they use their knowledge and skills to assess and treat a patient.

TUSM’s CSSC welcomes all faculty that want to get involved in medical education simulation, whether from reviewing videos of students participating in OSCEs, to teaching students how to perform common medical procedures on task trainers, to designing and implementing your own curricular experiences integrating simulation technologies.

Various courses and programs are run through the CSSC which regularly require faculty participation including:

• Physical Diagnosis, Interviewing, and other courses described above
• 3rd year pre-clerkship bootcamp (March and April, one week each)
  •  One week preceding the start of core clerkships to train students on common procedures that they will encounter on the wards (such as airway management, lines, and wound care)
• 3rd year end-of-clerkship OSCEs (March through June, flexible timing)
  • A cumulative assessment using standardized patients where students are required to demonstrate their clinical skills (history taking, physical exam, and diagnostic/reasoning skills) after completing the six core clerkships
• 4th year, pre-residency bootcamp (May)
  • One week following completion of all other medical education experiences, immediately prior to graduation and starting residency, and intended to refresh students on common scenarios, procedures, and aspects of healthcare that will increase their competence and confidence to start residency

For more information, please contact the Medical Simulation Specialist at christopher.mcneal@tufts.edu regarding any of the above programs; or Dr. Alison Vogell (Alison.B.Vogell@tuftsmedicine.org) regarding the End-of-Clerkship OSCEs; or Dr. Lilian Chen (Lilian.Chen1@tuftsmedicine.org) regarding the 4th year bootcamp.

Students at TUSM are assigned to one of four learning communities, each anchored by a consistent small group of fellow students and a faculty coach. The coach is responsible for encouraging professional identity formation and also assists in teaching clinical skills and in facilitating self-reflection in a longitudinal fashion throughout the four years. Coaches are all physician faculty members selected for their exemplary professional and personal attributes and their proven dedication to students. Coaches met regularly with individual students as well as with their learning communities in small groups.

For more information about potentially participating as a faculty coach, please contact Dr. Taimur Dad at taimur.dad@tufts.edu.

The School of Medicine partners with Tufts’ Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, a national leader in civic education, to provide the Community Service Learning (CSL) program. Through this program, all medical students spend at least 50 hours working directly in the community as collaborators, mentors, and educators. These first-hand experiences enable students to understand health disparities while honing the clinical, communication, and teamwork skills that are essential to their work as physicians.

Faculty support the CSL program in a variety of ways, primarily through advisement of CSL initiatives in both Boston and Maine. Faculty expertise is invaluable to students as they develop health workshops or learn about particular health equity topics. Faculty provide one- time advisement on a specific health workshop, ongoing advisement of CSL clubs, and/or training/guest speaker events on particular health justice topics.

If you are interested in being a CSL faculty adviser or would like additional information about the CSL program, please contact csl@elist.tufts.edu.

The Physical Diagnosis course focuses on the fundamental skills of the basic physical examination. Instructors help guide students while they practice exam techniques, describe normal findings on the physical exam and help learners appreciate what abnormal findings may mean. The lab includes hands-on practice sessions and the use of task trainers. This also includes a final practical exam.

Physical Diagnosis I and II labs are held every week from January through August during the 1^st year of PA school. Instructors are welcome to help with the lab sessions which run 8am-12noon on Thursdays in the Clinical Skills and Simulation Center on the Medical School campus.

For more information please contact the course director, Mike Otte PA-C at michael.otte@tufts.edu.

Primary Care Medicine I, II, and III run from January to December. Each semester, the Primary Care Medicine course has a simulated patient experience where students are exposed to different patient cases that may present in a primary care office. The learners are expected to use their medical knowledge and skills to assess the patient, conduct an oral presentation to an instructor, and then discuss a treatment plan with the patient. The PA program welcomes clinicians who want to get involved in observing these simulated patient encounters in-person, providing critical feedback to student learners to promote their growth and learning. Simulations will occur once/semester at the Clinical Skills and Simulation Center on the Medical School campus.

For more information, please contact the course directors, Rosanne Washington PA-C at Rosanne.washington@tufts.edu and Haili Dunbar PA-C at haili.dunbar@tufts.edu.

Clinical year students return to campus in the late Spring to work on communication and clinical reasoning through the use of simulation. Instructors will help run students through a simulated medical scenario along with a guided debrief to reflect on opportunities to improve for future practice. These sessions typically occur in the Spring.

For more information, please contact the callback day coordinator, Mercedes Colangelo MPH, PA-C at Mercedes.colangelo@tufts.edu.

The Procedures course focuses on the fundamental procedure skills such as IVs, venipuncture, wound care, suturing as well as some advanced skills including intubation and lumbar puncture. Instructors help guide students while they are practicing these skills as well as helping learners understand the indications for their use. The lab includes hands-on practice sessions and the use of task trainers.

Procedures lab runs from August through December during the 1^st year of PA school. Instructors can help with practice sessions which run 8am-12noon on Thursdays in the Clinical Skills and Simulation Center on the Medical School campus.

For more information please contact the course director, Mercedes Colangelo MPH, PA-C at Mercedes.colangelo@tufts.edu.

The PA program will be creating an interprofessional educational opportunity focused on end of life care, specifically discussing hospice and palliative care. This will be a shared experience with PA students and social work students. Instructors will be responsible for providing feedback to learners after an observed standardized patient experience.

For more information, please contact the IPE coordinator, Rayne Loder PA-C at rayne.loder@tufts.edu.

PA students have 11 clinical rotations that are required to complete the program. The core rotations include: Family Medicine, General Surgery, OB/GYN, Pediatrics, Inpatient medicine, Emergency Medicine, Orthopedics, and Behavioral Medicine. Areas of specialty medicine can help students complete their elective rotations. Rotations are month-long.

For more information about being a preceptor for PA students, please contact Joseph Sansone PA-C at joseph.sansone@tufts.edu.