Our Curriculum

This is a 2-week rotation during which students are exposed to many concepts of anesthetic practice in a combination of small group sessions, problem-based learning, part-task and full-body simulators and clinical environments.

The objectives are: 

• To acquire an appreciation of the multifaceted discipline of Anesthesia
• To acquire an understanding of the clinical application of physiology and pharmacology to patients of all ages
• To acquire the basic practical skills of airway and circulatory management

During this 4-week rotation, students will learn to:

• Demonstrate the ability to rapidly recognize and initiate basic management of acute life- or limb-threatening illness or injury
• Describe a basic differential diagnosis including the significant worst-case diagnosis for every patient assessed
• Demonstrate a basic systematic, prioritized approach to resuscitation and stabilization of emergencies
• Demonstrate a basic ability to distinguish seriously ill or injured patients from those with minor conditions
• Demonstrate a focused history and physical examination
• Distinguish which conditions are life-threatening or emergent from those that are less urgent
• Demonstrate the ability to evaluate and initiate treatment of the undifferentiated patient
• Describe the concept of triage and prioritization of care. Recognize that certain groups of patients require a high index of suspicion for serious illness (e.g.,immunocompromised, chronic renal failure, transplant, extremes of age, intoxicated, and diabetes)

The 6-week Family Medicine rotation revolves around a one-to-one experience pairing a student with a community-based family physician. The most significant component of the Family Medicine rotation is this time spent with the clinical preceptor in the office setting.

The overall goals of the program are for all students to have:

• An understanding of the broad scope of family medicine
• An understanding of how virtual or same-site interprofessional teams function in the context of the primary care environment
• Appreciate the challenges in addressing complex, diverse patient care issues longitudinally
• Appreciate the nature of some of the specific challenges in the provision of primary care to patients, such as addressing undifferentiated illness, chronic illnesses and preventive care issues.
• Gain skills and experience in meeting patients’ needs for prevention, problem identification and management, and complex disease management through episodic care of patients and their families in the community practice setting
  
  
  

The Internal Medicine rotation consists of a 6-week core rotation and a 2-week mandatory sub-specialty selective rotation. The core rotation in Hamilton occurs at one of 3 hospital-based Clinical Teaching Units and there are also ward-based rotations at the community hospitals associated with the Waterloo and Niagara campuses.

Internal Medicine Clerkship Objectives are achieved in the following areas:

• History and Physical Examination
• Case Presentation
• Problem Formulation: Diagnosis
• Problem Formulation: Therapy
• Communication with patients
• Professionalism
• Bioethics of care
• Self-directed learning
• Basic Procedures
• Care of the Elderly

The Obstetrics and Gynecology rotation is a 6-week rotation where learners participate in large group sessions in weeks 1 and 6 to examine basic and complex obstetrical and gynecologic topics. During weeks 2-5 of the rotation, time is spent in an ambulatory setting with a preceptor as well as on the hospital wards on Labour and Delivery, OR, postpartum and gynecology. To conclude the rotation,  students participate in large group sessions during week 6 and write the NBME exam on the last day of the rotation.

For the ambulatory component of the rotation, students are assigned to a community placement for 4 weeks with an obstetrician gynecologist and are required to complete e-learning modules independently. Community placements occur in Hamilton and surrounding areas such as Brantford, Burlington, Kitchener-Waterloo, Niagara regions as well as ROMP placements in near north communities.

This is a 2-week rotation.

Students become familiar with the following areas (and when applicable with the signs, symptoms, relevant investigations, treatments and prognosis) of:

• Fractures and dislocations.
• Painful and/or swollen joints.
• Limb deformity (Paediatric/malunion)
• Inflammatory and non-inflammatory arthritis.
• Musculoskeletal tumors.
• Cervical/low back pain and sciatica

The Pediatrics clerkship rotation is a 6 week rotation during which students have exposure to both ambulatory and inpatient pediatrics care. The student inpatient experience often focuses on children with more severe or chronic diseases. Education about health maintenance, disease prevention, common illnesses, focused interviewing and clinical problem-solving as well as knowledge of community resources is provided by using community-based general pediatrics office experiences. Sub-specialty clinics provide a unique experience to gain an intimate understanding of complex childhood conditions.

The Psychiatry clerkship rotation is a full-time 6-week rotation during which students are exposed to various psychiatric settings. The rotation comprises several components, including a core clinical placement which generally involves at least two clinical settings, Psychiatry emergency room on-call experience, and a mandatory academic day which includes a series of teaching sessions, lectures and tutorial sessions of various formats. Clinical placements can be in Hamilton, the Niagara region, the Guelph/Waterloo region, or surrounding community settings (e.g. Burlington, Brantford and Oakville).

This is a 6-week rotation during which students are involved in a variety of clinical scenarios and learning opportunities designed to enhance their knowledge and skills. They interact with patients and their families in all aspects of surgical care (hospital wards, outpatient clinics, operating room, emergency department, intensive care unit, etc.). They are part of a team of highly qualified physicians and other health care professionals.