VCOM College Catalog and Student Handbook

• (MED 7254) Competency in Clinical Skills VII: 1 credit hour The Competency in Clinical Skills course is a simulation-based, psychomotor course that instructs and assesses students on clinical skills, clinical reasoning, and medical procedures through the context of patient encounters and procedural skills. Clinical skills, professional development, and medical procedures are major curricular focuses providing early patient exposure and the means to develop outstanding clinical thinking, technical skills, and a sense of professionalism utilizing evidence-based medicine. Curricular time is devoted to clinical skills, reasoning, professional development, and procedural skill activities. Students meet in small group sessions as they work with clinical faculty to apply interview and examinations skills to the diagnosis and treatment of patients and is an opportunity for students to practice medical procedural skills under supervision. These activities provide focused opportunities to learn through cooperation and collaboration, which helps students develop their abilities to work with groups of colleagues and co workers in a professional environment. Individual demonstration of the patient encounter and procedural skill will be video recorded, graded, and archived to fulfill college requirements and may be used for educational and research purposes. • (MED 7308) Clinical Medicine: Dermatology: 1 credit hour Clinical Medicine brings in the most common diseases affecting the dermatologic system including 80 to 90% of diseases and disorders most often seen in primary care. This curriculum provides prevention, the clinical presentation, differential diagnosis, and treatment of various disorders or diseases of the skin. Treatment includes pharmacologic and surgical treatments. • (MED 7310) Clinical Medicine: Neuropsychiatry: 1.5 credit hours Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine cover the DSMIV criteria, minor and major psychiatric illnesses and mood disorders and treatment, and the differential diagnosis of psychiatric disorders. The course is taught in lecture format but often requires pre-reading by the student so that cases may be discussed in class. The Substance Abuse and Addiction materials cover the genetic and physiologic changes that occur with substance abuse that result in addiction, and the various treatments for dependency and addiction with the success rates of each. The course also covers the physician's role in contributing to prescription drug abuse, along with methods to avoid and treat prescription drug abuse. • (MED 7315) Clinical Medicine: Hematology and Oncology: 2 credit hours The course covers the most common hemostatic and lymphatic conditions including cancerous and non cancerous blood disorders and cancer of the lymphatic system. The course covers the clinical presentations, the differential diagnosis, and most up to date information on treatment. The course covers the treatment of HIV and other inherited or acquired immune disorders that affect the blood and immune system. The curriculum also covers clotting disorders and their treatment. The material is presented in lecture-based format and clinical case presentations. Treatment includes osteopathic principles, pharmacology, and surgical treatments. Diagnostic procedures are presented including radiology, laboratory results, and other disease specific diagnostic exams. Students learn the importance of the role of the many healthcare providers required in caring for patients with cancer from radiation therapy to the oncology nurse to the importance of hospice care. • (MED 7365) Comprehensive Assessment VII: Integumentary, Hematologic, and Lymphatic Systems 1 credit hour Osteopathic physicians must demonstrate the understanding and application of established and evolving principles of foundational biomedical and clinical sciences integral to the practice of patient-centered osteopathic medical care. This assessment provides a benchmark for the osteopathic medical student to use as a measure of that integrated learning process using a comprehensive, multiple-choice format completed at the conclusion of Block 7. These questions will help students not only with developing a knowledge base for the reproductive, endocrine, integumentary, hematologic, and lymphatic systems, but also with the comprehension skills required to perform well on future Board testing.

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