Your clinical education at Medical University of the Americas takes place primarily in the second half of your academic program, during semesters 6 to 10—your final semesters before earning your MD and entering a residency program.
The Clinical Medicine program at MUA is 72 weeks:
- 42 weeks of required core rotations in Surgery, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Obstetrics and Gynecology.
- 30 weeks of elective clinical rotations that may be in any of the various medical specialties, depending upon the student’s future goals.
"What really impressed me was when I got to the clinical part of the education...the rotation spots offer you tremendous opportunities."
— Henry Nguyen
Residency: Surgery(Preliminary)
Baylor College of Medicine
THIRD-YEAR-ROTATIONS
INTERNAL MEDICINE
12 Weeks
Students build on skills acquired in physical diagnosis to include the completion of a thorough history and physical examination of primarily adult patients. Students will be a part of the clinical management team and given responsibilities for certain aspects of direct patient care under the close supervision of a preceptor. Students will have clerkship experiences in both inpatient and ambulatory care settings. Instruction will include the management of commonly encountered disease processes as well as an introduction to the use of diagnostic procedures.
SURGERY
12 Weeks
Students will be introduced to disease processes which require various levels of surgical intervention. Initially, students will be taught the policies and procedures of the operating room to include scrubbing and the maintaining of sterile technique. They will have opportunities to do pre-surgical histories and physical examinations. Opportunities will be provided for direct practice of simple procedures such as suturing, debridement and wound care. Under close supervision of a preceptor, students will be able to observe and assist during various procedures in the operating room and participate in the follow-up and treatment of the post-surgical patient in the hospital and in ambulatory practice settings.
OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY
6 Weeks
"My surgical clinical rotation was excellent. It gave me the ability to assist on operations, not simply view them from the corner of the room."
—Adnan Qureshi, MD
Residency: General Surgery
University of Toronto
Students will be introduced to the normal course of pregnancy to include pre-natal care, labor, delivery and the postpartum period. Students will be taught the fundamentals of a proper obstetric and gynecologic history and examination. Observation and participation in a number of live births will be provided. Students will also participate in discussions of, and receive direct experience with, various disease processes and complications of pregnancy and delivery. Students will learn the fundamentals of family planning and dealing with patients with sexually transmitted diseases.
PEDIATRICS
6 Weeks
This clinical rotation introduces the student to the challenging medical treatment of infants, children and adolescents. Students will initially learn to take histories and perform physical examinations on well infants and children in inpatient and outpatient clinic settings. The diagnosis and treatment of common illnesses will be emphasized, but the student will have opportunities to learn about the more rare congenital as well as acquired disorders.
PSYCHIATRY
6 Weeks
In this rotation, students learn about the major psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia, affective and anxiety disorders. Special emphasis will be placed on the difference between organic and functional mental illnesses through taking a proper psychiatric history and performing a mental status examination. Students will be instructed in the judicious use of major classes of psychotropic medications.
FOURTH-YEAR ROTATIONS
Elective rotations are usually completed during the fourth year of medical school, to assist the student in identifying areas of special interest in medicine for future practice and graduate residency training.
Highly recommended electives include:
- Cardiology
- Primary Care Medicine (required)
- Dermatology
- Emergency Medicine
- Anesthesiology
- Intensive Care Medicine
- Neurology
- Pathology
- Plastic Surgery
- Radiology
- Urology
- Vascular Surgery
