Welcome From the Clerkship Director

Caitlin Bailey, MD
Student Clerkship Director

 

Welcome to Highland! 

Highland welcomes visiting students from all over the country to our popular 4th year sub-internship rotation. We are a UCSF teaching affiliate site (UCSF course EM140.40); thus visiting students rotate alongside UCSF students interested in Emergency Medicine as a career path. Highland truly values having a student presence in the department. Our goal is to offer an immersive Emergency Medicine experience to our students, including exposure to trauma patients and critically ill medical patients. Students will see and evaluate patients as a primary provider under close supervision, gaining experience as an “acting intern” in patient management. We have designed a didactic curriculum to augment this clinical experience, as students attend weekly residency conference as well as a separate weekly student curriculum. Students on this rotation get exposure to residents and attendings dedicated to the field of Emergency Medicine, as well as an incredibly diverse population of patients with a wide range of clinical needs.

Overview

  • Students work up to 17 clinical shifts across all dates and times (including weekends and nights—it’s Emergency Medicine!)

  • When conditions permit (see COVID19 information below) up to 2 of these shifts are replaced by an EMS ridealong with Alameda County paramedics

  • Students in this course attend weekly residency conference and a weekly 3 hour lecture series designed for students, as well as a monthly seminar ("Follow-Up Conference") describing the longitudinal outcome of unusual cases, paired with journal club.

  • Students prepare a final presentation as part of the curriculum.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: 1. Recognize signs of critical illness and identify first steps in resuscitation of undifferentiated, critically ill patients 3. Demonstrate skills in primary assessment of undifferentiated illness in Emergency Department patients (under supervision) 4. Demonstrate skills in summarizing a newly-assessed patient in presentation to a supervising attending in order to design a plan of workup and care. 5. Develop strategies for monitoring and responding to new data as it arises for Emergency Department patients 6. Analyze and apply information related to patient disposition from an Emergency Department setting 7. Participate in Emergency Department procedures such as ultrasounding, suturing, splinting, paracentesis, and others

Evaluating Student Work

Students are evaluated based on:

  • Attendance

  • Direct Observation of Clinical Performance

  • Class Participation

  • Case Presentation

How to Apply

Highland uses the Visiting Student Learning Opportunity (VLSO, formerly VSAS) service for applications. We are bound by our institutional agreements to use this service; if your school does not participate in VLSO, you are unfortunately unable to apply.

Dates

The Highland clerkship follows the UCSF calendar for 4th year rotations and cannot be altered or offset.

Diversity Scholarship Application

As the only safety net institution and Trauma Center for more than 1.5 million people, we are committed to providing the care possible for our patients. We firmly believe that providing optimal clinical care includes developing a team of providers as diverse as our patient population. We are determined to recruit residents who not only excel clinically and academically, but who also reflect the incredible cultural, linguistic, and ethnic diversity of those we serve.

Our commitment to recruiting a diverse residency class is demonstrated by the 4th year medical student diversity scholarship program. Please see our attached brochure, which will tell you a little more about what makes our program such a fun and incredible place to train, as well as the scholarship application. Feel free to email us with any and all questions. 

For each academic year decisions are made on a rolling basis, with early applications encouraged. Applicants may also request a waiver of the clerkship fee, even if not ultimately selected for the scholarship. 

Apply by clicking here

Covid-19 Statement

As with everything in medicine, our clerkship response to COVID-19 is constantly evolving. We were thrilled to welcome our UCSF students back to the rotation this summer after an initial pause in all student presence in the department. Our ability to offer space to visiting students is dependent on current covid-19 conditions in the county as well as hospital operations. From a clinical standpoint, our policies regarding students interacting with covid-19 PUIs follow those of UCSF; at present, students do not evaluate PUIs. We appreciate your patience during this time. We are thrilled to welcome students starting August 2021! Specific questions can be directed to the clerkship coordinator and director via email.