Student Clerkship Requirements & Grading

Clinical evaluations are completed by residents and faculty who have interacted with you in a variety of settings and can attest to your knowledge, skills and/or professionalism. Any resident or attending may complete a clinical evaluation for any student with whom they have interacted, however, you will be allowed to submit a request for an evaluation from the resident and/or faculty that which you feel you had substantial interaction.

Each student will prepare a 10-15 minute talk. This talk may be a review of a journal article or a brief overview of a clinical topic of interest, depending on the site. These talks will be precepted by a faculty member and will be presented to the student group. You will be evaluated on your use of resources, knowledge base and presentation style.

Since the OB/GYN Clerkship uses the National Board shelf examination at the end of our clerkship, the Program has a low-end standard cut off passing grade. A failing grade on the exam is less 5th%tile (which is two standard deviations below the national mean). The national mean has consistently been around 70. A brief content outline and sample questions can be found at the NBME website.

The purpose of conducting a Clinical Skills Assessment is to access the student's ability to perform a focused history and physical on a female patient with an obstetrical or gynecological chief complaint. The Clinical Skills Examination, performed with Standardized Patients, is a standardized method of measuring student's clinical, professional, and interpersonal skills through simulated patient interaction. The CSA is a reliable and valid method to ensure students have learned the acceptable skills, behaviors, and attitudes in which the educational objectives state they must learn prior to successful completion of the clerkship. It is important to make certain the students are competent in those skills that the profession and the public expect of a physician at their level of training.

The faculty developed a list of obstetrical and gynecologic procedures that all students must meet during the 8 week clerkship rotation based on the APGO Educational Objectives 9th Edition. The goal is for the student to gain as much clinical experience as possible and track this experience via procedure log. All students are required to submit their procedures/diagnoses entries in e-value by the end of the rotation.

• Students should refrain from using inappropriate language and discussing problems of a sensitive or controversial nature within earshot of patient, hospital visitors, or hospital staff.
• Students are expected to introduce themselves (as a medical student) to nurses, patients, residents and attending physicians. For the laboring patient, a student should always meet both patient and attending as early in the process as possible and get verbal permission from both to participate in her care. You may ask the resident also to introduce you to the patient.
• Demonstrate respect for patients, families, colleagues, and members of the health care team.
• Demonstrate compassion, integrity and honesty.
• Abide by HIPPA and hold medical information in strict confidence.
• Acknowledge imitations, seek and accept feedback.
• Demonstrate a commitment to learning.

Inappropriate professional behavior at any time on this rotation will prompt written corrective action that may result in loss of professionalism points and /or removal from the service and failure of this rotation.

Please refer to the Appeal Process for Grades for details. It is the student's responsibility to review his or her grade which will be available 4 weeks after the completion of the clerkship. No changes will be made in the final grade, including the various components of the final grade and the comments included in the final grade summary.

Students who fail the exam and also do substandard work clinically will receive a failing grade (F) for the clerkship. Students who do passing work clinically, but who fail the NBME will receive a conditional grade (C). Students who receive a C grade will have a second opportunity to take the exam; if they pass, they will receive a grade of Condition Pass. If they fail, the student is required to repeat the entire 8 week clerkship without exception. For further details see Specific policies for Departmental Grade Appeals.