DOCTORING

YEAR FOUR

MS2/MS4 Mentoring Program

Medical Humanities -- Society, Law, and Health Care

Geriatric Initiative

Prepared for the Class of 2009

Gary Rull, MD, Doctoring Director

 March 26, 2008

DOCTORING

Year Four:

MS2/MS4 Mentoring Program

GOALS:

• To prepare students for the important role of teacher, which they will likely assume during their residency training.

• To improve students' clinical skills. Adult learning theory predicts that clinical knowledge and skills are enhanced when students are asked to teach what they know.

• To assist the MS2s in the transition into clinical medicine

• To assist the MS2 class interaction with upper classmates

KICKOFF:

• MS2/MS4 Welcoming Reception  -  This event is held in August

EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS:

• Topics and Dates:  To Be Announced

FOURTH YEAR STUDENT REQUIREMENTS:

• Attend Welcoming Reception and all Educational Sessions.  Absences require prior approval, and make-up sessions may be prescribed.
• Initiate contact with assigned MS2 within first month of their arrival (via Welcome Reception.)
• Over the course of the year, review 7 oral and written case presentations by MS2s. Give feedback to them on performance of both oral and written presentations.  Ideally, observe the MS2 performing an H&P examination on a patient with a complex problem.
• Serve as mentor throughout course of the year, providing assistance and guidance to MS2s.

DOCTORING

Year Four

Medical Humanities:

Society, Law and Health Care

General Learning Objectives (Year Four)

Students will be able to:

1. Discuss the physician's role in the administration of justice, with emphasis on describing an overview of the judicial process, including physician involvement as an expert witness in civil and criminal litigation.

2. Describe various systems of medical-legal investigation and the manner in which these systems affect public health.

3. Explain the legal and professional structures that regulate the conduct of physicians as expert witnesses.

4. Evaluate the manner in which the legal system functions through observation and analysis of a mock trial.

5. Describe the health care system in the United States, discussing its strengths and inadequacies, and comparing it with other health care systems.

6. Describe the economics, financing, and cost of health care in the United States.

7. Discuss policy issues of access to and availability of health care in rural and underserved areas in the United States.

8. Explain the concept of parity for mental health care services and describe social and economic barriers to achieving parity.

9. Discuss issues of ensuring quality in medical practice and patient‑centered clinical decision-making in the context of the current health care environment.

10. Describe ethical, legal, and policy issues arising in fee-for-service medicine and in managed care.

DOCTORING

Year Four:

Geriatrics Initiative

SIU School of Medicine recognizes that America is aging as a nation; thus, the healthcare system must be prepared to competently and compassionately care for this rapidly increasing older population.  Older adults consume the greatest portion of available medical services; therefore, it is incumbent upon medical schools to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to care for this burgeoning segment of the population.  Additionally, since few medical specialties are immune to these demographic changes, the majority of students graduating over the next few years will see a marked increase in the number of elders comprising their patient populations.     

Over the past several years, SIU School of Medicine has intensified the geriatric educational components throughout the curriculum in response to this pending need.   One of these components, the Geriatric Information Session, calls on the expertise of physicians and allied health professionals in the field to address today's "hot topics" in geriatrics and gerontology -- topics that you, as a physician, will encounter with your older patients.  This session is a feature of the Aging Across the Curriculum activities.

There is also a human side to Geriatrics medicine.  Meeting and getting to know older adults can provide a rich source of knowledge not often found in books.  And, it can give you greater insight into the resiliency, stamina and strength among our ever-increasing aging adult population.  The Elder Specialist Program is designed to provide students with a link to older citizens in the community who are willing to share personal experiences and individual perspectives (along with their sage wisdom) gleaned over the course of many decades of living.  We believe you will find these individuals interesting, even amazing, in their strategies to define themselves as elders in today's world, and to enjoy the best possible quality of life -- sometimes amid adverse circumstances.

During Year Four, you will have the opportunity to explore a timely, critical subject in geriatric medicine while getting to know and understand the elder's perspective in "real time."   More information will be provided later in the year as to the date of this event and the topic to be explored.  If there is a specific issue that you feel should be considered for a Geriatric Informational Session, please share your ideas with any Geriatrics faculty member (Gary Rull, MD, Richard Rosher, MD, Sherry Robinson, PhD, and Nancy McCann-Stone, MA).