Department of Medicine

Division of General Internal Medicine

Undergraduate Medical Education

The General Internal Medicine Division’s faculty serves as core faculty and leaders in medical student education.  Our faculty participates - as course administrators, instructors, and mentors - in the following undergraduate medical student curriculum courses:

Sarah Stone Fellowship in Medical Education: Medical Student Portfolios To Encourage Reflection and Learning 

Melissa Fischer, MD, MEd:  Students complete reflective learning portfolios to help them explore the Medical School competencies:  Physician as Communicator, Clinical Problem Solver, Patient and Community Advocate, Scientist, Person and Professional.

Medicine Clerkship  

Melissa Fischer, MD, MEd   Clerkship Director

As part of their core clinical experiences in the third year of medical school all UMass students complete three months of clinical activities in Internal Medicine.  Students spend their time on the hospital wards and in outpatient and community-based clinics learning to care for patients in a mentor-apprenticeship model.  These activities are enhanced by structured problem-based learning in core competency areas.

Medicine Sub-Internship Clerkship 

Sonia Chimienti, MD Subinternship Director

All UMass medical students complete a required sub-internship in their senior year of studies.  The experience offers them an opportunity to work closely with faculty and housestaff to develop the advanced skills required to successfully manage hospital inpatients. Clinical experiences are augmented by a curriculum aimed to help them integrate their learning from the prior basic sciences and clinical years.

Longitudinal Preceptor Program 

Rebecca Spanagel, MD
 
The Longitudinal Preceptor Program is for first and second year medical students.  This is part of the Physician, Patient and Society course that the students have in the pre-clinical years.  The program involves matching an incoming first year student with a physician.  The student then goes to the physician's office throughout the first year, and into the second year of medical school.  The focus is on developing the student's interviewing skills.

Physician, Patient, and Society Course 

David Hatem, MD

The PPS course is a two year course that teaches the fundamental principles, knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential to the practice of medicine.  Course content includes the medical interview, clinical problem solving (which integrates patient specific, epidemiologic, and community/organizational data), physical examination, medical ethics, and community health which is taught in small groups to small groups of students with faculty facilitators from a broad range of medical and para-professional disciplines.  Attention is paid to the personal and professional development of students as well as providing a structure for students to become self-directed learners.

Teaching Communication as a Way to Improve organizational performance.