Delivering Electives the Clerkship Way: Consolidating the Student Doctor Method of Training

ABSTRACT

Student doctor method of clinical training or clinical clerkship provides students with exposure to the entire longitudinal illness of the patient. The students participate in patient care as a part of treating team and can refine their clinical, communication and procedural skills. It provides them with an opportunity to work with the faculty and experience the future workplace. Although the graduate medical education regulations (GMER) provide for student doctor method of training, the time provided is too little and opportunistic. Electives have also been recently added to the new curriculum for the first time. We propose a model to deliver the electives using the clerkship method, so as to consolidate what students learn from the ongoing clerkship. This model is feasible, practical and can be introduced in the current GMER for Indian medical undergraduates without any major disruptions.