The Department of Medicine has educational responsibilities in the M2, M3 and M4 years:

The M2 year includes Pathophysiology of Clinical Medicine: An introductory course emphasizing concepts of disease in an organ system approach designed to prepare students for clinical rotations and complement basic science studies. The course includes Introduction to Community Medicine in which small groups of students investigate a community health care problem and prepare a formal presentation for a day long community seminar.

The M2 year also includes Clinical Medicine Skills I and II: An introduction to patient interviewing and physical examination designed to teach students the skills necessary to communicate with and assess patients.

The M3 year includes a Medicine Clerkship: a 12 week clerkship based in two College of Medicine affiliated community hospitals (Rockford Memorial Hospital and Saint Anthony Medical Center). Students are assigned a faculty preceptor and work closely with that preceptor completing three to five patient evaluations per week. In addition, each week of the clerkship has an "organ system theme" and small group interactive conferences are organized to further discuss topics in each area.

The M4 experiences in Medicine are designed to enhance the students' knowledge base in clinical medicine, to learn preventive and treatment strategies for modifying the natural cause of disease, and to inculcate in the student the necessity for life-long learning. Studies include: Three to four week clerkships in cardiology, nephrology, pulmonology, hematology/oncology, infectious disease, gastroenterology, or general internal medicine; neurology; two and four week electives in radiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, dermatology, rheumatology, diabetology, geriatrics and nutrition.

For more information about the Department of Medicine, please call the Department of Medicine office at 815-395-5645