Additional Documents: Syllabus | Course Objectives/Competencies 

The greatest commitment of the faculty in the Department of Internal Medicine is toward the students' medical education. The major purpose of this school is to prepare students to become physicians of the highest quality. Kansas has a long and proud tradition of accomplishing this goal. We expect, by the end of the clerkship, that students will demonstrate evidence of acquiring new clinical skills and information.

The University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita Internal Medicine Clerkship is an 8-week learning experience. There are two, 3-week hospital blocks (weeks 2-7) and two, 1-week didactic blocks (weeks 1 and 8). 

The four locations facilitating the clerkship are: KUSM-W, Ascension Via Christi Saint Francis Hospital (VCSF), Wesley Medical Center (WMC) and Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center (VA). 

Students will meet all IM clerkship objectives through hospital-based instruction and active-learning pedagogues. For successful completion of the IM clerkship, one must obtain either pass or pass with distinction.   

Students spend each day during the first week in what is referred to as “Bootcamp” to prepare them for their time on the wards with patients. This is an interactive week consisting of traditional lectures, problem-based learning, case-based learning and hands-on experience in our standardized patient lab.

Students are assigned to two, 3-week hospital blocks during weeks 2-7. Students will obtain comprehensive history and physical examinations on patients, document in the electronic medical record, create patient care plans, communicate patient care plans to health professionals and propose differential diagnoses based on epidemiology data, patient histories, laboratory tests and imaging studies. 

Students are scheduled one overnight call during the clerkship. The on-call experience will allow students to participate in the management of patients being assessed for hospital admission, Code-blues, rapid responses and consultations. 

Students spend the final week (week 8) of the clerkship completing a comprehensive Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), where students are graded on their clinical skills in multiple standardized patient encounters. The remainder of the week is spent in review sessions, lectures and self-study periods.