3rd Year Curriculum

Third Year Requirements and General Information

Contact Information
The Basic Clinical Curriculum
Clerkships at Other Institutions
Switching Clerkships with Another Student
Block/Site Scheduling
Enrollment, Tuition and Fees

Please read all directions carefully. If you have any questions, please make an appointment to speak with any of the following people:

Leanne M. Shook, Clerkship & Elective Program Manager, Office of Student Affairs, Room 1001 Bondurant Hall, 962-8338, e-mail address: leanne@med.unc.edu (questions regarding registration procedures)

Ms. Sheila Graham McDonald , Financial Aid Officer, Office of Student Affairs, Room 1001 Bondurant Hall, 962-6118, e-mail address: Sheila_Graham@med.unc.edu (questions regarding financial aid procedures)

Dr. Georgette Dent, Associate Dean for Student Affairs, 1060 Bondurant Hall, 962-8334; e-mail address: Georgette_Dent@med.unc.edu (questions regarding career decisions)

General Information

The Basic Clinical Curriculum [top]

The basic clinical curriculum is the result of a major, three-year review that involved significant input from many faculty, students, AHECs and community preceptors. The basic curriculum represents a continued growth in teaching and learning in primary and generalist care settings. Students will experience more interactions with patients and their families in community settings, such as neighborhood clinics, private practitioners’ offices, health departments, nursing homes, HMOs, and other local health care facilities.

The third year curriculum is composed of 8 weeks of inpatient medicine, 4 weeks of Obstetrics & Gynecology,  4 weeks of Psychiatry, 4 weeks of Neurology, 8 weeks of Surgery, 8 weeks of Pediatrics, 4 weeks of Family Medicine, and 1 week of Fundamentals of Acute Care. During the Family Medicine clerkship each student will work on a one-to-one basis with a primary care physician, seeing patients in that community, and learning about the factors within the community that affect the health of patients and their families. Four weeks of the Pediatric Clerkship focus on pediatric health care in ambulatory and primary care settings. The majority of students in the Medicine Clerkship will spend two months on inpatient services (at least one at UNC-CH); all students will learn and practice clinical reasoning and decision-making skills.

The Surgery Clerkship is eight weeks, and will target surgical problems encountered and treated by generalists, and common medical illnesses with surgical indications; the focus will be on the basic surgical skills that all students should learn in preparation for their future careers.

Fundamentals of Acute Care (FAC) is a five-day required course in the third year taught by members of the Department of Anesthesiology faculty. The primary goal of the course is to introduce the student to the principles and practices of emergency and critical care. Major topics include:  airway management; respiratory failure, including respiratory monitoring and the basics of mechanical ventilation; intravenous access and fluid management; recognition and management of dysrhythmias, circulatory failure and shock; and neurologic critical care.

Lecture/discussion sessions including workshops on intravenous access and mechanical ventilation, management of emergency and critical illness scenarios on a virtual
reality Human Patient Simulator and supervised experiences in the operating room and critical care areas will be employed in teaching. There will be a significant
hands-on component. Experience in translating theory into practice will be acquired through various scenarios in which students will act in teams as principal caregivers
in simulated emergencies. A written test will be given at the conclusion of the course. The required text is Fundamentals of Critical Care Support, which is available in
our Department offices. The course will be scheduled during the Family Medicine Clerkship block.

Clerkships at Other Institutions [top]

There are no third year clerkships done outside of UNC or its AHEC Hospitals.

Switching Clerkships with Another Student [top]

Based on recommendations from previous class leaders, students will be permitted to switch clerkships  if they can find a willing partner. Both students will need to meet with me (Leanne Shook) to sign an agreement to switch. Our switching period will last one month and it will begin after final schedules have been distributed. More information will be provided soon.

Block/Site Scheduling [top]

The block clerkship schedules are completed in the Clerkship & Elective Program Manager’s Office. However, each clinical department’s Clerkship Coordinator does site scheduling within a specific clerkship. All students are required to spend time at our AHEC sites for some of their clerkship experience. A significant amount of time in your third year may be scheduled away from UNC Hospitals. If you have special needs (single parents, married with children, illness), please let the Departmental Clerkship Coordinator know this when you turn in your preference forms for site scheduling.

Enrollment, Tuition and Fees [top]

Registration and enrollment in the School of Medicine are required for all courses for which you receive credit for the M.D. Degree.  Even though our medical school curriculum is different from other professional schools in the UNC system, registration is required for the Second Summer session, Fall semester, Spring semester and First Summer session to meet the requirements of the M.D. Degree. Registration information or announcements will be placed in your mailboxes or posted on bulletin boards outside of Room 231 MacNider Building, as well as posted in the Berryhill student lounge.

Tuition in the third year is prorated based on the number of clerkships taken in a semester. The initial scheduling of third year rotations is handled within the medical school, which must report to the University Registrar's Office before final registrations are generated.  You must pay tuition and fees, or give notice to the Cashier's Office of anticipated financial aid by completing a Tuition and Fee Waiver form prior to the deadline set by the University Cashier which is printed on the back of your bill. If your tuition and fees are not paid or deferred for each term of enrollment, your registration will be canceled. The University Cashier will send Tuition and Fee bills to the home address you have given the Medical School Student Affairs Office. Being scheduled out of town on a rotation does not excuse you from paying Tuition and Fees on time.