VCOM 2023 Annual Report

How do we teach students to successfully communicate with patients? L earning procedural skills and how to think on your feet during an emergency are vital to any physician, but there is more to being a doctor than performing procedures; bedside manner is also critically important. We use our standardized patient (SP) programs to teach students to communicate effectively with patients. We invite members of the local community to our Sim Centers to be trained to portray a number of physical or mental dysfunctions as SPs. Interacting with SPs gives students the opportunity to develop vital interpersonal skills. Students must communicate well and ask effective questions to take a patient history and diagnose the SPs ailment. These interactions are recorded and students receive reviews from both the SP and the faculty in the Sim Center, giving the student important feedback about both their clinical and interpersonal skills. How do we teach VCOM students to perform Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM)? O MM is a key part of osteopathic medicine and distinguishes a DO from an MD. It is also a hands-on activity that requires practice and experience to perform well. OMM is taught throughout the pre-clinical and clinical years by faculty physicians who practice primary care medicine, osteopathic medicine and sports medicine. First- and second-year VCOM students regularly offer OMM to members of the VCOM staff and local community members, giving them an opportunity to practice their skills under the careful supervision of our OMM faculty. OMM is reinforced in the third and fourth years through clinical experiences with experienced VCOM faculty, who demonstrate the incorporation of manipulative medicine skills into clinical rotations and practice.

PROGRAMS OF STUDY 89