Core Clinical
Core clerkships are traditionally considered to be one of the most transformative periods in a physician’s career. Core clerkships begin in January of your second year and are organized into seven blocks which include six clinical rotations plus a block dedicated to Clinical Reasoning & USMLE Step Preparations. Rotations occur in Southwest Michigan.
Core Clerkships
- Family and Community Medicine
- Medicine
- Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine
- Psychiatry
- Surgery
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
The first days of each core clerkship block provide specific preparation for the upcoming clerkships, including training using simulation and standardized patients. The last section provides capstone experiences and assessments. Throughout core clerkships there is further integration of basic science principles with clinical cases so students are well prepared for USMLE Step 2 CK.
Advanced Clinical
Advanced clerkships continue to build clinical skills and allow students to explore and finalize their desired area of practice. Your transition into advanced clerkships begins with ACLS certification.
Required Advanced Clerkships and Selectives
- Advanced Emergency Medicine (4 weeks)
- Advanced Critical Care Medicine (4 weeks)
- Advanced Hospital Medicine (4 weeks)
- Advanced Neurology (2 weeks)
- Advanced Anesthesiology (1 week)
The Advanced Clinical Curriculum at WMed focuses on giving students an opportunity to experience a wide breadth and variety of pathology and recognition of the “sick” patient. Additionally, it affords students the opportunity to take ownership of patient care experience and become more confident with patient management so that students are fully prepared for the rigors of intern year of residency, no matter what specialty they choose.
Students have the opportunity during advanced clerkships to explore your options with a variety of local elective offerings, flexible time to accommodate residency interviews, and vacation weeks that you build into your schedule.
All students are in Kalamazoo in March for Match Week and a Profession of Medicine capstone focused on biomedical ethics.
Transition to Residency polishes clinical skills and prepares students to immediately excel as a new resident, with special emphasis in areas that directly relate to students' chosen residency program.
Clinical Affiliates
Students train at sites of our major affiliates, Ascension Borgess and Bronson Healthcare, with exposure to a wide range of pathology at over 190 training sites in southwest Michigan and beyond. You learn in two large hospital settings that are nationally recognized for exceptional quality of care. In past years, Ascension Borgess and Bronson Healthcare have received no less than 100 awards and recognition for quality initiatives, including the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, American Stroke Association Primary Stroke Center designation, and the American Hospital Association McKesson Quest for Quality Prize. The proven commitment to quality standards translates into a level of training experience that rivals major university medical centers while providing the advantage of a community-based, diverse patient population.
- Ascension Borgess
Ascension Borgess consists of more than 120 sites of care as well as three hospitals in west Michigan including Ascension Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo, Ascension Borgess- Lee Hospital in Dowagiac, and Ascension Borgess-Pipp Hospital in Plainwell. In Michigan, Ascension operates 15 hospitals and hundreds of related healthcare facilities that together employ approximately 26,000 associates. As the largest non-profit health system in the U.S. and the world’s largest Catholic health system, Ascension is committed to delivering compassionate, personalized care to all, with special attention to persons living in poverty and those most vulnerable. Nationally, Ascension includes approximately 165,000 associates and 34,000 aligned providers.
- Bronson Healthcare
Bronson Healthcare is a not-for-profit, community-governed healthcare system based in Kalamazoo. Bronson offers clinical services throughout southwest Michigan and northern Indiana. The flagship hospital, Bronson Methodist Hospital, is a 415-bed tertiary care hospital that received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2005 and has Magnet designation for nursing excellence. In addition to its Kalamazoo location, Bronson has three other hospital locations: Bronson Battle Creek, Bronson LakeView, and Bronson South Haven. Bronson also has many physician practices, outpatient and lifestyle improvement and research centers, home healthcare services, the Bronson Health Foundation, and Bronson Athletic Center. Bronson is one of the area’s largest employers, with a workforce of more than 9,000.
- WMed Health
WMed Health practices are located on the Oakland Drive Campus, Crosstown Parkway, at the Department of Psychiatry on the Ascension Borgess Hospital campus, and on Mall Drive in Portage. There are five primary care practices and more than 20 specialty practices. WMed offers a full range of ancillary services and care for a broad range of patients, serving as the medical home for a historically underserved and underinsured patient population. WMed practices are accredited by The Joint Commission. The primary care practices—family medicine, internal medicine, medicine-pediatrics, and pediatrics—have designations as a Patient-Centered Medical Home from both the National Committee for Quality Assurance and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
- Other Affiliates
You will also see patients as part of Grace Health in Battle Creek, a federally qualified health center that serve historically underserved patient populations. Clinical rotations are also available at the Battle Creek VA Medical Center that serves more than 42,000 veterans in 22 counties of southwest Michigan, Oaklawn Hospital in Marshall, and the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital.