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Clerkship in Pediatrics

Pediatrics clerkship is a required component of the Vista Exploration year.  It is part of an integrated unit with Obstetrics & Gynecology and the two clerkships have some shared curriculum and a shared OSCE case. 

The Pediatrics rotation consists of a 4 week inpatient rotation and a 1 week primary care rotation.  

Our inpatient sites are UMass Medical Center and Baystate Medical Center and our outpatient sites span across the state.   The rotation emphasizes attitudes, knowledge and skills required to provide safe and effective care of children of all ages and developmental levels. Most of the inpatient rotation time is spent on direct patient care on inpatient pediatric units with some additional time in the pediatric emergency room and the newborn nursery.  Your patient care time will focus on proficiency with pediatric histories, exams, family-centered presentations, written documentation, assessments and plans. Core curriculum is covered in case-based, team-based or simulation discussions and supplemented with on-line case-based learning modules. 

Our five major goals for the clerkship: 

  1. Demonstrate a humanistic approach to patient care
  2. Develop communication skills that will facilitate effective clinical interactions with patients and families
  3. Perform an age and developmentally appropriate physical exam pertinent to the needs of the patient and family
  4. Describe the physician’s role in the interdisciplinary care for patients and families
  5. Integrate clinical information from the history, physical exam and other available data to develop an assessment and plan for a pediatric patient

Student competency is assessed through clinical evaluations using a standardized rubric, an NBME multiple choice exam, a written history and physical, a longitudinal focus topic assignment and an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) using standardized patients.  


JUNE 21 2024 | cjb