VCOM College Catalog and Student Handbook

on the understanding that students’ progress through a sequence of developmental stages: Reporter > Interpreter > Manager > Educator R : Reporter • Focus at this stage: Reporters can accurately and reliably gather clinical information on each of their patients. Reporters can communicate clearly (both verbally and in writing) the clinical information they have obtained. Reporters are able to distinguish important information from unimportant information and are able to focus data collection and presentation on central issues. • Emphasis: The S/O (Subjective/Objective) part of SOAP. • Learner: Pre-clinical learners – It is expected that all students will function as master Reporters and be transiting into beginning Interpreters by the end of the OMS 2 year. Students are expected to move through the Reporter stage during pre-clinical training. • Level of Supervision: Direct Supervision I : Interpreter • Focus at this state: Interpreters are capable of identifying problems independently and prioritizing them, including addressing new problems, as they arise. Interpreters are able to develop a differential diagnosis independently and to make a case for and against each of the important diagnoses under consideration for a patient’s central problem(s). Helping students make the transition from Reporter to Interpreter is one of the focal efforts of the clerkship. • Emphasis: The A (Assessment) part of SOAP. • Learner: Predominantly expected to be third year medical students. All students are expected to begin their OMS 3 year primarily at this stage, and to demonstrate significant progress to a Manager towards the end of the OMS 3 year. • Level of Supervision: Direct or Indirect Supervision as appropriate based on:

o The level of training of the student. o The clinical abilities of the student. o The acuity of the patient and the level of risk to the patient. o The complexity of the clinical case/procedure.

M : Manager • Focus at this state: Emphasis is predominantly on the Plan of the SOAP note.

Managers are able to develop and defend a holistic and osteopathic diagnostic and a therapeutic plan for each of their patients’ central problem(s). Managers are able to utilize their growing clinical judgment to decide when action needs to be taken. Managers can analyze the risk/benefit balance of specific diagnostic and therapeutic measures based on an individual patient’s circumstances. • Emphasis: The P (Plan) part of SOAP. • Learner: Predominantly fourth year medical students. While some students will acquire sufficient knowledge, skills, and confidence to function as Managers for some of their patients earlier in the OMS 4 year, not all will make this transition until the latter part of the OMS 4 year. The transition from Interpreter to Manager is essential during the course of the OMS 4 year. • Level of Supervision: Direct or Indirect Supervision as appropriate based on:

o The level of training of the student. o The clinical abilities of the student. o The acuity of the patient and the level of risk to the patient. o The complexity of the clinical case/procedure

E : Educator • Focus at this stage: Educators have mastered the fundamental skills described above. Educators have the insight to define important questions to research in more depth, the drive to seek out the evidence behind

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