Intersessions

Abstract

In 1999-2000, we restructured the clinical core year into eight-week modules allowing us to gather the entire class, in between clerkships, for intersessions. We phased in two intersession weeks in 2000-2001 and are implementing three intersession weeks in 2001-2002 (October, February, and June). In the evaluations of the first year's intersessions students valued the opportunity to gather together, to process their clinical experience, and to utilize their clinical experience to drive learning in important, clinically relevant areas that are not consistently taught in the clerkships. Evaluations from the first intersession of the second cycle further underscore the preference for learning experiences that are highly relevant to the clinical year (e.g., practicing efficient search strategies to quickly answer clinical questions, utilizing systematic reviews, discussing ethics cases from the students' experiences) and the benefits of faculty facilitated small-group discussions over lecture time. The advances in science sessions are most effective when they focus on advances in diseases that students are likely to have encountered. In our next phase, we will use Web-based interfaces to collect cases from students on clerkships and to promote discussion of topics in anticipation of the next intersession. As we continue to refine intersessions, our experience so far provides good evidence to support intersessions as a successful curricular innovation.

Workplace learning through peer groups in medical school clerkships

“…Our study deepens prior work examining challenges that students experience when moving from pre-clerkship activities to clerkships (6, 8, 9, 18–22). We found three ways in which WPGs provided support through those challenges.…”

“…First, WPGs avail third-year students to real-time, accessible, and relevant resources to facilitate their transformation into seasoned and effective workplace learners. WPGs therefore confer an advantage over an alternative prevalent in many schools, the intercalation of periodic intersessions throughout the clerkship year where students can reflect on challenges and experiences in professional development (11, 22). Second, a common struggle for students entering immersive clinical practice is not merely adapting to the pace and tasks of a vastly different workplace, but to achieve a true sense of belonging and an ability to contribute (23, 24).…”

The Key Role of a Transition Course in Preparing Medical Students for Internship

“…In particular, UCSF’s introduction to doctoring course (“Foundations of Patient Care”) and the intersession courses taken during the core clinical clerkship year have similar course qualities, including teaching professional development, gathering together as an entire class, and targeting known knowledge gaps. 29 In other words, Coda does not introduce these issues de novo ; rather, it is the culmination of a progressively more sophisticated examination that takes place over the course of medical school.…”

A Brief, Intensive, Clinically Focused Geriatrics Course During the Third Year of Medical School

“…Furthermore, it was achieved without any major effect on the clinical productivity of the division because faculty members had to commit only a small amount of time to teaching. The location of the course within a third‐year intersession period is also attractive to other schools looking to develop content for these sessions because the interdisciplinary nature of geriatric medicine is consistent with the original spirit of the intersession 17 …”

“…At the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, an intersession week was added to the third year to synchronize the third‐ and fourth‐year calendars. Several medical schools have developed these 1‐week intersession periods into an effective forum to supplement content covered in clinical clerkships 17 . We were presented with the opportunity to develop an intensive 3‐day course in geriatric medicine.…”