Office of Education
Third Year Courses
Family Medicine
Chantal M. Brazeau, M.D.
Clerkship Director
Email: brazeacm@umdnj.edu
The Family Medicine Clerkship is an ambulatory clerkship with clinical experiences that are based in the offices of board-certified family physicians (preceptors) or the out-patient offices of a family medicine residency program. Offices are located in urban, sub-urban or rural areas across New Jersey. Our preceptors are highly rated and the experience in their office provides a viewpoint of the practice of medicine outside of the tertiary care hospital. In addition, we teach practical application of evidence-based medicine, to make it relevant to the day to day practice of physicians and to the patients they serve.
The Family Medicine Clerkship is designed to introduce students to the field and the comprehensive and continuous care provided by family physicians to patients of all ages. Additionally, the students learn to recognize the importance of the family systems and the impact of the chronic illness on patients and their families and on the health of individual family members.
Students have ample opportunity to evaluate, diagnose and learn to treat common problems seen in an undifferentiated patient population. They actively participate in acute care visits, follow-up of chronic illnesses and provide patient education to patients of the practice.
Our classes are hands-on and our Teaching Objective Structured Clinical Examination (TOSCE) is a highly regarded experience where students are observed and receive immediate feedback about their clinical skills and doctor-patient relationship style.
We look forward to having you rotate through our clerkship.
General Surgery
Kenneth Swan, M.D.
Clerkship Director
Email: swanke@umdnj.edu
Ziad Sifri, M.D.
Associate Clerkship Director
Email: sifrizi@umdnj.edu
This clerkship has been designed to provide a broad-based experience in the art and science of Surgery. The overall goal of this rotation is to develop increasing independence in the diagnosis of conditions requiring surgical intervention and understanding the principles of their management. The Department is committed to making your rotation educational, worthwhile, and enjoyable. Our goal is to provide you with all the tools necessary to become competent clinicians.
Surgery is a “team sport” and we believe that you will learn the most by integrating closely with the service team during your clinical rotations. Every activity of each member of the team offers an opportunity to learn. While the constraints imposed by the urgent nature of surgical illnesses offer challenges to your education – they also offer you rapidly evolving insights into diagnosis, pathophysiology, pathology, and treatment that are unique to this specialty.
In order to focus your learning process we have set forth clear expectations for this rotation that balance a good knowledge base with sound clinical skills. This is also reflected in a clear grading system with appropriate emphasis on both.
Over the next eight weeks you will spend some time at the Surgical Services at our public hospitals (University Hospital or Veteran’s Administration Medical Center) and at our private affiliates (Morristown Memorial Hospital, Beth Israel Medical Center, or Hackensack University Medical Center). In general, you should expect to spend approximately two-thirds of your time learning through participation in our clinical activities and approximately one-third of the time involved with educational workshops and learning sessions some of which are consolidated into the 8th week of the rotation.
Medicine/Selective
Jo-ann Reteguiz, M.D.
Clerkship Director
Email: reteguiz@umdnj.edu
The major educational goal of the Clerkship in Internal Medicine is to provide medical students with the clinical skills and cognitive abilities required for problem solving and decision-making in clinical medicine. Those goals are accomplished by providing a structured supervised clinical experience in both ambulatory and inpatient settings and through small group sessions, resident and faculty role modeling, and critical reading. Students are assessed for competency in these areas by resident/faculty evaluations, patient write-ups and progress notes, participation in conferences, participation on rounds, oral presentations, an end-of-clerkship Objective Structure Clinical Examination (OSCE), and an end-of-clerkship written National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) subject examination.
The selective program is designed to introduce a third year student to an Internal Medicine subspecialty. It is an opportunity for education in an area of the student’s own interest. It has been developed to familiarize students with the history taking, physical examination, different diagnoses, workup, assessment and management of common problems in specific subspecialty of interest. Additionally, students will have the opportunity to improve their proficiency in the performance of selected diagnostic and therapeutic interventional techniques commonly performance in the specific subspecialty when indicated. During this elective students will evaluate patients, construct detailed care notes, develop comprehensive potential treatment plans, communicate with the subspecialty team, and discuss care plans with fellows and attending physicians. Teaching will be provided through informal bedside discussion, patient care rounds/bedside teaching and lecture sessions.
Students are to report to their selective experience every assigned Monday, Wednesday and Friday over the four week rotation period unless otherwise stated. The last Friday of the Selective Rotation is a Health Behavior Workshop Day). Students must work eight (8) hours per day to receive credit for the rotation.
Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health
Lisa Pompeo, M.D.
Clerkship Director
Email: pompeoli@umdnj.edu
The Clerkship in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health is designed to promote a comprehensive approach to women’s healthcare by providing each student with competencies in issues that primarily impact women’s health, including reproductive health, regardless of specialty career choice. The clerkship has at its core an intensive hands-on clinical experience. It is expected that upon completion of the clerkship the student will be able to:
1. Demonstrate the skill of performing a thorough OB/GYN history;
2. Demonstrate the skill of performing a thorough, painless OB/GYN examination;
3. Demonstrate the skills of formulating a diagnosis and management plan;
4. Establish effective relationships with patients and healthcare team;
5. Demonstrate the ability to practice preventive care and health maintenance for women;
6. Demonstrate the mastery of a fund of knowledge in obstetrics, gynecology and women’s health necessary for all physicians (regardless of specialty);
7. Demonstrate the attributes of a competent, caring physician;
All students will receive very detailed objectives relating to the substantive areas encompassed by obstetrics, gynecology, and women’s health at the commencement of the clerkship.
Pediatrics
Susan Mautone, M.D.
Clerkship Director
Email: mautonsu@umdnj.edu
Christin Traba, M.D.
Assistant Clerkship Director
Email: morancm@umdnj.edu
Sophia Chen, D.O., MPH
Assistant Clerkship Director
Email: chensw@umdnj.edu
The pediatric clerkship addresses issues unique to childhood and adolescence by focusing on human developmental biology and by emphasizing the impact of family, community and society on child health and well-being. Additionally, the clerkship focuses on the impact of disease and its treatment on the developing human, and emphasizes growth and development, principles of health supervision and recognition of common health problems. The role of the pediatrician in prevention of disease and injury and the importance of collaboration between the pediatrician and other health professionals is stressed. As one of the core clerkships during the third year of medical school, pediatrics shares with family medicine, internal medicine, neurology, obstetrics/gynecology, psychiatry, and surgery the common responsibility to teach the knowledge, skills and attitudes basic to the development of a competent general physician.
The pediatric clerkship experience introduces the student to a unique, complex and challenging field of medicine. It emphasizes those aspects of general pediatrics important for all medical students and will provide a foundation for those students who elect to further study the health care of infants, children and adolescents. Students have the opportunity to participate in the clinical activities of both general and subspecialty pediatric services, but the emphasis in all services is placed on basic issues and common illnesses. Subspecialties have the opportunity to emphasize aspects of their particular area of focus that are important for the education of the general physician.
Psychiatry/Neurology
Cheryl Kennedy, M.D.
Clerkship Director - Psychiatry
Email: kennedy@umdnj.edu
Rashi Aggarwal, M.D.
Assistant Clerkship Director – Psychiatry
Email: aggawra@umdnj.edu
Andrea Hidalgo, M.D.
Clerkship Director – Neurology
Email: hidalgan@umdnj.edu
The eight-week Psychiatry/Neurology clerkship provides an opportunity for the student to spend four weeks in Psychiatry being fascinated by the power of the human brain and the complex interaction of the mind, brain and behavior and four weeks in Neurology learning about common neurologic problems seen in every area of medicine. In this combined clerkship we place a major focus on patient care.