Your clinical education at Saba University School of Medicine takes place primarily in the second half of your academic program, semesters 6 to 10—your final semesters before earning your degree and entering a residency program.

During your clinical years you will be called upon to absorb new material from lectures, books and notes, while also applying and synthesizing what you have learned in a series of rotations on the wards of teaching hospitals in the U.S. and Canada.

The Saba University Clinical Medicine program consists of an 8-week research module followed by 72 weeks of clinical rotations:

• Required 8-week research module.
• 42 weeks of required core rotations in Surgery, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Obstetrics and Gynecology.
• 30 weeks of elective clinical rotations that the student may select based upon their projected medical specialty.

During your clinical education, your success depends not only on what you know, but how quickly you are able to summon it and how much of a team player you are in working with other students, residents and attending physicians. Professionalism, reliability and humility combined with a superb execution of core clinical skills are the keys to success.

"I had the best time of my life doing clinicals. And I think having the opportunity to work in both Canada and the U.S. has been nothing but an asset to me."

—Nancy Fleming, MD

Maine-Dartmouth Family Practice

THIRD-YEAR ROTATIONS

INTERNAL MEDICINE - 12 WEEKS

Students build on skills acquired in physical diagnosis to include the completion of a thorough history and physical examination of primarily adult patients. Students will be part of the clinical management team and given responsibilities for certain aspects of direct patient care under the close supervision of a preceptor. Students will have clerkship experiences in both inpatient and ambulatory care settings. Lectures will include the management of commonly encountered disease processes as well as an introduction to the use of diagnostic procedures. Students will be given direct assignments for research and expected to present them at clinical conferences.

SURGERY - 12 WEEKS

Students will be introduced to disease processes which require various levels of surgical intervention. Initially, students will be taught the policies and procedures of the operating room to include scrubbing and the maintaining of sterile technique. They will have opportunities to do pre-surgical histories and physical examinations. Opportunities will be provided for direct practice of simple procedures such as suturing, debridement and wound care. Students will be able to observe and assist during various procedures in the operating room and participate in the follow-up and treatment of the post surgical patient in the hospital and in ambulatory practice settings.

OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY - 6 WEEKS

Students will be introduced to the normal course of pregnancy to include pre-natal care, labor, delivery and the postpartum period. Students will be taught the fundamentals of a proper obstetric and gynecologic history and examination. Observation and participation in a number of live births will be provided. Students will also have lectures and direct experience with various disease processes and complications of pregnancy and delivery. Students will learn the fundamentals of family planning and dealing with patients with sexually transmitted diseases.

PEDIATRICS - 6 WEEKS

This clinical rotation introduces the student to the challenging medical treatment of infants, children and adolescents. Students will initially learn to take histories and perform physical examinations on well infants and children in inpatient and outpatient clinic settings. The diagnosis and treatment of common illnesses will be emphasized but the student will have an opportunity to learn about the more rare congenital as well as acquired disorders.

PSYCHIATRY - 6 WEEKS

In a primarily institutional setting, the student will learn about the major psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia, affective and anxiety disorders. Special emphasis will be placed on the difference between organic and functional mental illnesses through taking a proper psychiatric history and performing a mental status examination. Students will be instructed in the judicious use of major classes of psychotropic medications.

FOURTH-YEAR ROTATIONS

The total of elective rotations must be a minimum of 30 weeks. All students must complete 4 weeks of a Primary Care Elective. Students who plan to practice in California or Texas must take four weeks of Family Medicine in a hospital having an appropriately credentialed residency training program.

Highly recommended electives include:

• Cardiology
• Family Medicine
• Dermatology
• Emergency Medicine
• Anesthesiology
• Intensive Care Medicine
• Neurology
• Pathology
• Plastic Surgery
• Radiology
• Urology
• Vascular Surgery