Clerkships

In all core clinical rotations, students experience both the breadth and depth of health and disease, with opportunities to reinforce, build upon, and transfer knowledge and skills. Clinical learning is integrated across disciplines whenever possible, and the roles of basic science, civic professionalism, scholarship, and population health in clinical care are addressed. Students have patient care responsibilities that are progressive in complexity and increase as their level of clinical skill and knowledge increases. Learning objectives and assessment methods are the same for a given rotation, regardless of the clinical site.

University Program students have the option of participating in either the traditional core clinical rotation schedule, or in the Cleveland Clinical Longitudinal Clerkship (CCLC).

Clerkship Objectives and Clinical Conditions PDF (2022-2023) 

Traditional Core Clinical Rotations

Beginning in March of their second and ending in June of their third year, students undertake their core clinical rotations: Core 1 (Family Medicine, Geriatrics and Internal Medicine), Core 2 (Pediatrics and OB/Gyn), Core 3 (Neuroscience and Psychiatry), and Core 4 (Emergency Medicine and Surgery). Cores 1 and 2 are twelve weeks in duration and Cores 3 and 4 are eight weeks. Each of these clinical rotations is offered at the School of Medicine's hospital affiliates, University Hospitals of Cleveland, MetroHealth Medical Center and the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center.

Cleveland Clinic Longitudinal Clerkship (CCLC)

Beginning in July 2018, University Program students have the option of completing their clinical rotations as part of a 12-month longitudinal clerkship experience at the Cleveland Clinic. The educational learning objectives remain the same for all Case Western Reserve University students on their core rotations; however, the structure of the CCLC experience will offer some unique features aimed at increased learning, longitudinal experiences with faculty, and creation of a longitudinal learning community. Students will complete all 40 weeks of their core rotations within the Cleveland Clinic Health System and have 8 weeks of electives that can be taken at other core hospitals in Cleveland or as a visiting student at another institution. The structure of the core rotations will differ from other sites in order to integrate a Longitudinal Ambulatory Block (LAB).

• Inpatient Experience in three 12-week Blocks:
  • Internal Medicine/Surgery: 12 weeks
  • Pediatrics/Obstetrics & Gynecology: 8 weeks (+ 4 week elective — see below)
  • Neurology/Psychiatry: 8 weeks (+ 4 week elective - see below)
• Longitudinal Ambulatory Block (LAB) as fourth 12-week Block:
  • Outpatient Experiences
  • Additional Experiences (e.g. Palliative Care) and Flexible Time in the LAB weeks
• Clinical Electives/Research (two 4-week blocks) — Any clinical site in the city or other institution
• Longitudinal Didactics and Learning Groups — Students participate in a community of learning over the year. Topics such as quality/safety, high value care and palliative medicine will be covered as part of a year-long curriculum.

The Longitudinal Ambulatory Block (LAB) will include outpatient components of Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Ob/Gyn, Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine, Palliative Medicine and Geriatrics. LAB will also provide exciting opportunities for students to explore disciplines and possible areas of career interest and establish longitudinal experiences by working a half-day a week with the same preceptor over 12 weeks.

12-week Longitudinal Ambulatory Block (LAB) Rotation

Sample weekly student schedule in LAB. Will be developed individually for each student.

MetroHealth-CWRU Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (MCLIC)

The MetroHealth-CWRU Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship ( MCLIC): Students will have the option of completing their core clinical rotations as part of a 12-month longitudinal integrated clerkship experience in the MetroHealth System. The educational learning objectives remain the same for all Case Western Reserve University students on their core rotations, however, the structure of this experience will emphasize longitudinal and integrated experiences with faculty and patients in the diverse MetroHealth community.  Students will complete all 40 weeks of their core rotations within the MetroHealth System and have 8 weeks of electives that can be taken at other core hospitals in Cleveland or as a visiting student at another institution. 

The structure of the MCLIC is rooted in a year-long, half-day/week,  outpatient mentorship with a family physician, internist, pediatrician, surgeon, and obstetrician/gynecologist.  The student will work with the same attending physician in each core specialty for the entire year and become an integral member of the clinic team. They will develop longitudinal relationships with patients of all age groups who they can help care for in the inpatient and outpatient settings and across specialties. Time is set aside each outpatient week for students to do surgeries and procedures, deliver babies, work on quality improvement, attend learning sessions, address health disparities, and participate in the care of their panel of patients.  On weekends and at other convenient times, the students will be able to work in the emergency department and urgent care settings.

Spread across the academic year at approximately four-week intervals, the MCLIC  students will engage in their inpatient core rotations. Each inpatient burst will last 14 days and the student will be a member of the inpatient teams on the internal medicine, pediatric, obstetric, surgical, neurology, and psychiatry services. During their inpatient bursts, they will be full members of the inpatient team caring for the hospitalized and diverse, urban, and underserved community served by the MetroHealth Medical Center.