A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona (ATSU-SOMA) has partnered with the National Association of Community Health Centers to educate physicians who will possess the knowledge, skills, attitudes and desire to provide care in areas of need across the nation.

Working with medical students does not need to take a lot of additional time from your busy practice. The medical school provides supplemental learning activities to support the didactic education of the students using distance education technology. We encourage you to involve the students in the evaluation and management of your patients.

The primary responsibility of the student is to learn from educational opportunities through a variety of patients and clinical presentations. Students must read about the clinical conditions to which they are exposed, in addition to the assigned supplemental learning activities.

ATSU-SOMA’s curriculum reviews all of medicine via approximately 125 clinical presentation schemes (major symptoms, signs, lab abnormalities, etc.). The schemes (resembling clinical algorithms) have been covered during the first two years and are again addressed in years three and four as both contextual and supplemental learning during the student’s clinical rotations.


Required rotations

    * Indicates a core rotation.

OMSIII rotations

     
  • Family medicine* (8 weeks)
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  • Internal medicine* (8 weeks)
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  • General surgery* (4 weeks)
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  • Psychiatry* (4 weeks)
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  • OB/GYN* (4 weeks)
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  • Pediatrics* (4 weeks)
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  • Patient care selective (4 weeks)
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  • Maternal/child health (4 weeks)
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  • Electives (6 weeks)

OMSIV rotations

     
  • Critical care* (4 weeks)
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  • Emergency medicine* (4 weeks)
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  • Neurology* (4 weeks)
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  • Cardiology* (4 weeks)
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  • Selectives (16 weeks)
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  • Electives (12 weeks)

Curriculum Scope

OMS III rotation clerkships are coordinated with ATSU-SOMA’s partner sites located at or associated with large Community Health Centers throughout the United States. Students are assigned to one of these partner sites for years two through four of their medical school education. The OMS III and OMS IV course content builds upon the first two years of clinical presentation training. Clinical training emphasizes diagnosis and management.

Didactics: Using the “Clinical Presentation Model,” supplemental learning didactic activities are delivered to students via ATSU-SOMA’s web-based learning center. Students are directed to review materials for a set of clinical presentation topics appropriate to each rotation. Please feel free to provide additional assignments specifically related to your discipline and patients.

Evaluations: Please meet with the student on the first day of the rotation and midway through the rotation to review expectations and assess progress. The student should provide you with a copy of the Clinical Rotation Evaluation (CRE) to guide this discussion.

At the end of the rotation, please use the CRE form provided to you either by the student or through email to assess their clinical performance. Both the student’s credit for the rotation and your CME credit are contingent upon ATSU-SOMA’s receipt of the CRE form.

The student must also submit a Student Evaluation of Rotation (SER) and record appropriate patient logs to successfully pass the rotation.

Core rotation examinations

     
  • Following OMS III core rotations, students will be required to pass an NBOME (COMAT) subject examination.
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  • Following OMS IV core rotations, students will be required to pass an ATSU-SOMA course examination or COMAT examination. Successful completion of each core rotation requires achieving an acceptable score on the assigned exam, and receipt of passing logs and clinical evaluation (CRE).

Preceptor resources