HST Course Info

PRECLERKSHIP - Year I

Course objectives are available to enrolled students and course faculty in Canvas under each course site.

HST Senior Curriculum Manager: Catherine Hodgins
HST Curriculum Coordinator: David Hansen


PRECLERKSHIP - Year II

Course objectives are available to enrolled students and course faculty in Canvas under each course site.

HST Senior Curriculum Manager: Catherine Hodgins
HST Curriculum Coordinator: David Hansen

 

PCE (PRINCIPAL CLINICAL EXPERIENCE) 

A year-long clinical immersion experience that exposes students to the medical disciplines and experiences essential to becoming a physician. The year consists of 1-month to 3-month clinical rotations in medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, neurology, psychiatry, and radiology at a single site, supplemented by mentoring and assessment. Students also complete the longitudinal experiences: the multidisciplinary PCE case conferences, the Primary Care Clerkship, and the Developing Physician course.

Course goals and objectives are available to enrolled students in Canvas under each course site. Clerkship faculty who do not have a Canvas account can refer to email correspondence from your clerkship site director.

Requirement checklists are available to enrolled students and course faculty in OASIS.

PCE/Clerkship Curriculum Support Contact: Sally Bartlett

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

PCE Director:Alexandra Hovaguimian
UME Associate Dean: Katharyn Meredith Atkins
PCE Manager: Naomi Montill
 

Boston Children’s Hospital – Pediatrics for BIDMC and BWH

Associate Dean for UME: Katherine O’Donnell
PCE Coordinator: Winnie (Su Wen) Yu—SuWen.Yu@childrens.harvard.edu
 

Brigham and Women’s Hospital

PCE Director and Associate Dean for UME: Erik Alexander
PCE Manager: Alexander McGillivray - AMCGILLIVRAY@PARTNERS.ORG
 

Cambridge Health Alliance

PCE Director and Associate Dean for UME: David Alan Hirsh
CIC Coordinator: Erin Reilly - ereilly@challiance.org
 

Massachusetts General Hospital

PCE Director and Associate Dean for UME: Alberto Puig
PCE Manager: Lisa Neville - LMNEVILLE@mgh.harvard.edu

 

POST-PCE

Post-PCE Components

Clinical Capstone

Subinternships

About

Required Subinternship

ME 550 Medicine Core II Subinternship

 

Overall Course Director: Mary Montgomery mwmontgomery@bwh.harvard.edu 

Course Manager: Sally Bartlett

BWH Course Director: Mary Montgomery mwmontgomery@bwh.harvard.edu 

BIDMC Course Director: Vilas Patwardhan vpatward@bidmc.harvard.edu & Marisa Jupiter mjupiter@bidmc.harvard.edu

CHA Course Director: Rachel Hathaway rhathaway@challiance.org

MTAH Course Director: David Miller dmiller3@mah.harvard.edu

MGH Course Director: Benjamin Davis btdavis@mgh.harvard.edu 

 

Course Description

The overall goal of the Medicine Core II Subinternship is for students to continue to learn to deliver excellent medical care to patients. The clerkship is designed to allow students to evaluate and manage patients with complicated medical problems under the supervision of house staff and medical attending staff. Core II students are expected to function in a more independent manner than in Core I student and to assume more direct responsibility for patient care.

The majority of admissions are for the evaluation and subsequent management of acutely ill patients; some patients are admitted for diagnostic procedures. Each patient admitted has an identified attending physician who oversees that patient’s individual care. Students will be expected to interact with the resident and attending physician in all aspects of the care of that patient.

The broad range of common disorders (and the uncommon as well) represent rich opportunities for the trainee. Also vital is preparation of the subinterns for their future role as housestaff with course attention to the basic elements of teaching and the conduct of effective ward rounds. Students are integrated into the ward team and manage patients from admission to discharge under the direct supervision of the team resident. Bedside teaching also offers direct observation of student interviewing and examination skills. In addition to participating in the full range of conferences designed for the house staff, students will meet with faculty for seminar-based discussion of specific subintern curricular topics, as well as bedside rounds devoted to the interview, physical examination, review of primary data and problem formulation. Feedback will be provided to the students on a regular basis with a fixed mid-month review of performance. Evaluations will be based on input from housestaff and faculty. Students will meet individually with the course directors at the end of the rotation to review performance, achievements, and goals for the future.

SITE INFORMATION
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Cambridge Health Alliance
Massachusetts General Hospital
Mount Auburn Hospital

Course Listings

Medicine Course Objectives

  • H&P: Obtain a complete history in an efficient manner, reflecting hypothesis-driven data gathering.
  • H&P: Perform an accurate hypothesis-driven physical examination recognizing the specificity and limitations of exam findings.
  • DIAGNOSIS: Develop and prioritize a differential diagnosis.
  • DIAGNOSIS: Utilize laboratory and imaging tests effectively, including recognition of test limitations and costs.
  • MANAGEMENT: Develop and execute an effective therapeutic management plan.
  • MANAGEMENT: Prioritize and complete daily work tasks.
  • MANAGEMENT: Recognize patients requiring emergent evaluation, ask for help and initiate the evaluation.
  • MANAGEMENT: Reprioritize the problem list throughout the hospitalization.
  • MANAGEMENT: Effectively obtain informed consent and perform procedures such as venipuncture, arterial blood gas, paracentesis and lumbar puncture under supervision.
  • DISCHARGE: Create a discharge care plan that takes into account and addresses the social determinants of health and addresses heath care disparities.
  • DISCHARGE: Complete an accurate and complete discharge summary to facilitate transition of care.
  • COMMUNICATION: Document clinical encounters in a thorough manner which reflects hypothesis-driven data gathering and clinical reasoning.
  • COMMUNICATION: Deliver clear and concise patient presentations.
  • COMMUNICATION: Give and receive concise and accurate patient hand-overs in order to transition care responsibly.
  • COMMUNICATION: Communicate effectively and in a collaborative manner with all members of the interprofessional health care team.
  • COMMUNICATION: Communicate with patients and their families in a patient-centered, empathic manner without medical jargon seeking to incorporate patient preferences and cultural beliefs.
  • INQUIRY & EDUCATION: Form clinical questions and retrieve evidence to advance patient care.
  • INQUIRY & EDUCATION: Educate the team in the context of patient care.
  • INQUIRY & EDUCATION: Identify system failures and contribute to a culture of safety and improvement.

Elective Courses

Visit the Course Catalog for more information on post-clerkship elective courses and contact information.

 

HST Thesis Requirement and HST Student Forum Presentation

HST Thesis Committee Chair: Richard N. Mitchell
HST Thesis Committee Coordinator: Maureen Bergeron Bates

HST MD students are required to become actively involved in independent research under the direction of a faculty member. Such research may be conducted longitudinally throughout a student’s medical studies, if carefully planned. Students are also encouraged to slow the rate of progress through the formal curriculum and take an extra year in order to devote more time to research. As a requirement for graduation, every HST student must present evidence of original, scholarly and creative work in the form of a thesis based on laboratory research or clinical investigation. The thesis topic is to be chosen with the advice of a member of the Faculty, who agrees to act as the thesis supervisor. During their tenure, students are expected to present a poster of their research at the HST Student Forum, an annual event that celebrates the depth and breadth of HST student research effort and scholarly work.

Please note that the curriculum is undergoing continuous review and improvement and is subject to change at any time.

Updated 10/3/2022