CLINICAL EDUCATION EXPERIENCE

The clinical training program is designed to be completed in eight quarters. Students begin their clinical education in a supportive/observational role and as they demonstrate competence they become more active in the responsibilities of direct patient care. Students work under the direct supervision of a licensed physician. A minimum of 700 patient contacts and 65 clinical training credits must be completed with a broad spectrum of patients at the various clinical training sites.

Aside from seeing patients in the Medical Center, students have access to extended site and elective site locations. Extended sites are teaching clinics that are typically located in community clinics that provide care to underserved patient populations. These sites are staffed by SCNM faculty who oversee the patient care and the students’ education. Please contact the Registrar’s Office at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or reference the SCNM Extended Sites web page.

Additionally, students in their thirteenth quarter and beyond may choose to participate in approved elective site rotations. Elective site rotations are staffed by physicians in private practice, hospitals, ambulatory care facilities, long-term acute care facilities, etc. These physicians are not SCNM faculty; yet, due to their generosity and commitment to medical education, they offer students the opportunity to learn not only medicine, but often practice management in real-life practice settings. It should be noted that students cannot be supervised and/or evaluated by their own personal physician or a primary family member who is a physician or other medical practitioner.

In order to complete clinical training and meet graduation requirements, a student must:

• Complete 65 credits of clinical rotations, 1 credit of lab post, and 1credit of Medicinary post, for a total of 67 credits
• Have at least 700 patient contacts
• Complete the student competency check-offs
• Complete and pass the Primary Status Exam
• Complete and pass the Clinic Exit Exam
• Maintain a current CPR certification
• Renew the clinical training certificate annually with NPBOMEX
• Update Hepatitis B information, TB screening or any other related health information annually.

All students are expected to follow current clinical policies and procedures, as outlined in the Medical Center Clinical Handbook. The Medical Center Clinical Handbook is distributed in the second year of the program and is available at the Registrar’s Office or on MySCNM.