Aims

Students spend 4 weeks in a community or hospital clerkship and take part in clinical activities in order to practice clinical skills. Student seminars are organized. Exposure to clinical and human experiences allows them to reflect later on during further lectures.

Main themes

Practical immersion is coordinated with theoretical lectures given during the 1st doctorate year including semiology (medicine, surgery, pediatrics and psychiatry), infectious diseases, gastr-enterology, pneumology and cardiology.

Content and teaching methods

Taking an active part in clinical activity gives students the opportunity to clerk four patients. Notes are compared to official medical notes and submitted to supervisor.
A. Clerking includes history taking (presenting complaint, history of complaint, past medical history, family history, systematic clerking of all systems, medication, life habits, social status) and performance of a comprehensive medical examination (vital signs i.e. heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure and temperature; examination of systems eg cardiological, respiratory, abdominal, ENT).
B. Interpretation of standard laboratory tests (blood count, renal and hepatic functions, "U's and E's…)
C .Semiology seminars which help students to learn to identify signs and symptoms of common diseases. During the clerkships, students are expected to practice technical skills eg taking bloods, intramuscular injections

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Assessment is based on participation and assessment of specific items by the supervisor. If items are assessed negatively, students must re-sit an assessment before June.