Phase 3 Students
A four-week Advanced Elective in Emergency Medicine is available to Phase 3 students at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) and to visiting fourth-year students from outside institutions. This elective is consistently rated one of the best Phase 3 experiences in the medical school.
The advanced elective consists of 15 clinical shifts during which students see patients independently, giving them the opportunity to care for acutely ill patients, enter orders into our electronic medical record (EMR), write patient notes, and act as the primary provider for their patients on a level similar to that of an emergency medicine intern. Students also benefit from one-on-one guidance from attending staff during most shifts.
Students participate in our innovative simulation-based curriculum and flipped-classroom curriculum covering common chief complaints, diagnoses, and procedures in emergency medicine. This curriculum culminates with an end-of-rotation test pulling from the the SAEM M4 National EM exam. Grading for the elective rotation is based primarily on end-of-shift evaluation forms and the final exam.
In addition to clinical responsibilities, students benefit from six enrichment activities:
- Unique practical training on real-world documentation skills, including documentation practice with a standardized patient encounter.
- A hands-on ultrasound skills session using standardized patients. Students become competent in performing a FAST examination during this experience and learn to integrate bedside ultrasonography into their practice.
- A one-on-one “mid-month feedback” session with the course director to give and receive feedback to help set goals for the second half of the rotation. This session includes an opportunity for application advising for EM-bound medical students.
- Three 2-hour, high-fidelity simulation sessions designed to give students the opportunity to manage critical “patients” on their own. These sessions allow students to make mistakes in a safe setting and to learn from them during a student-centered debriefing session at our Simulation Center.
- Every Thursday, students attend residency conference, the backbone of our residency didactic curriculum. Various topics are covered including core content lectures, departmental grand rounds, M&M, and oral-boards style cases utilizing the national Foundations of EM curriculum.
- End-of-rotation Case Conference. Each student presents an interesting case they witnessed during the month, followed by an evidence-based learning pearl (10 minutes total). This conference also marks the end-of-rotation celebration, with each student bringing food to share.
Spots are limited, with scheduling preference given to UW SMPH medical students. Individuals interested in visiting from other institutions are encouraged to review additional information for visiting medical students before contacting us.
At the end of the month, all students applying to emergency medicine residency programs can request a departmental SLOE (Standardized Letter of Evaluation) after submitting a current CV, personal statement, and cover letter.