MDC7400
Pediatric Clerkship

Pediatric Clerkship – CLERKSHIP SYLLABUS – 2025-2026
Duration: 8 weeks
Clerkship web page: https://elearning.ufl.edu/
Pediatrics Department Chair –Rashmin Savani, MBChB

Jacksonville Director: Orlyn Lavilla, MD
Jacksonville Administrator: Ashley Volz

CLERKSHIP INFORMATION

Clerkship Description
Welcome to your third year Pediatric Clerkship. During the next eight weeks, the door will be opened to a unique and exciting part of your medical education. We are eager to provide a stimulating educational environment in which you can acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes important in the care of infants, children, and adolescents. The Department of Pediatrics places the highest priority on your education. We hope you will display an eagerness to learn, ability to teach yourself and others, and appreciate the special nature of children and their health problems. We have set the following as goals for you to accomplish during this experience:

Clerkship Locations
Gainesville Pediatric Locations
Inpatient
Shands Children’s Hospital
1600 SW Archer Road

Emergency Department: 1st Floor, East Entrance
Gainesville, FL 32610

Pediatric Wards (Green, Orange, Blue) 4th Floor (4200, 4500 wing) and 10th Floor (10-500 wing)
(800) 749-7424

Newborn Nursery: 3rd Floor (3500 wing)
(352) 265-8000
Outpatient

UF Health at Children’s Medical Services (CMS) Clinic
1701 SW 16th Avenue -Gainesville, FL 32608
(352) 334-0206 – Medical Director Dr. Zac Gohsman

Endocrine Clinic at either CMS or Med Plaza, 2nd Floor Pediatric Specialty Clinics – 2000 SW Archer Road

UF Health at Tower Square (TS) Clinic
7046 Archer Road – Gainesville, FL 32607
(352) 373-1770 – Medical Director Dr. Carolyn Carter

UF Health at Magnolia Park Clinic
4740 NW 39th Place, Suite B – Gainesville, FL 32606
(352) 594-7337 – Medical Director Dr. Maureen Novak

UF Health at Tioga Town Center
133 SW 130th Way, Suite C – Newberry, FL 32669
(352) 733-7337 – Medical Director Dr. Molly Posa

Rotation Schedules
There are two types of schedules: academic schedules and clinical schedules.

Academic Schedule: Learning Sessions, Ethics Conferences, Safety Presentations, and Other Responsibilities
This schedule, provided as a Canvas calendar, is used primarily for relaying the dates, times, Zoom address or locations, and subject matter for all Learning Sessions and other Pediatric Clerkship activities. If you are in Gainesville, your attendance is required at these weekly Wednesday sessions. Required and supplemental (optional) educational resources are provided on Canvas.

Clinical Schedule: Inpatient/Outpatient Rotation
This schedule is divided into two parts, the general overview of all eight weeks and then sub-schedules for each rotation. The rotations and their corresponding sub-schedule are color-coded to help with interpretation for each individual student. Reporting instructions are on your Canvas calendar at the date/time you are first scheduled to report to a new clinical location. If ever there is a question about your Gainesville schedule, contact Caitlin by email. Your concern will be addressed promptly.

BOG Attestation Regarding Instructional Materials

Instructional materials for this course consist of materials reviewed, selected, and assigned by the instructor(s). The instructor(s) is only responsible for these instructional materials. Based on self-assessment of learning needs, students may identify other credible resources to augment the identification, analysis, and synthesis of relevant information.

Recommended Textbooks and Resources
Link of Recommend Text: https://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/pediatric-clerkship/books
Link to Utilize Recommend Text: http://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/ebooks

Mid-clerkship Formative Feedback
Students are required to obtain written formative feedback from a faculty member and submit at the end of the rotation. Students are STRONGLY encouraged to obtain written formative feedback from all supervisors with whom they have significant contact.

Mid-rotation coaching session with clerkship director. In week three of your clerkship, you will need to complete a self-evaluation. This evaluation lets you familiarize yourself with the anchor/descriptors of each clinical competency that your evaluators will use to assess and evaluate you. In week five, you will complete a “Mid-Rotation Coaching Form” and be scheduled for a meeting with a clerkship director where you will discuss your SMART goals and strategies to achieve these goals as you progress through your clinical science years.

ASSESSMENT

Assessment of student performance is determined by clinical performance, assignments and presentations (per portfolio), and NBME.
Feedback

• Formative feedback: routinely provided by faculty, fellows, residents during clinical work throughout the clerkship to allow additional opportunities for growth and improvement of clinical skills
  • Provided during, immediately after, and/or at the end of the week from your team
• Summative feedback:
  • Formal evaluations from faculty, fellows, and residents completed on New Innovations
  • Final Clerkship Summative Grade Report: an overall assessment and final grade to reflect your clinical performance from evaluations in New Innovations, completion of assignments, and NBME.

Grading

*Students are evaluated on the following professionalism domains:
• Respectfulness
• Motivation, Work Ethic, and Excellence
• Honesty

Grade Scale – To be determined

Core Competencies
70% Core Competencies

While experiencing the variety of settings that combine to create the field of pediatrics, you will be assessed by the faculty, staff, and some patients that you encounter. These assessments are based on six ACGME Core Competencies: Professionalism, Patient Care, Medical Knowledge, Practice-Based Learning, Interpersonal & Communication, and System-Based Practice. Pediatric areas you may experience are:

• Inpatient Experience
  • Blue Team or Orange Team (2 Weeks): General and subspecialty patients
  • Hematology/Oncology, Endocrinology, Cardiology, Pulmonology, or Neurology (2 Weeks)
• Outpatient Clinical Experience
  • General Pediatrics – Primary, Acute, Adolescent Care (2 weeks)
  • Newborn Nursery (1 week)
  • Pediatric Emergency Department (1 week)

20% Medical Knowledge

Your efforts on the NBME shelf exam, given the last day of rotation, comprise 20% of your total Pediatric Clerkship score. There are plenty of resources to help you prepare including the online Aquifer cases, practice Aquifer (formerly CLIPP) exam and daily PREP questions on Canvas, books available for check-out in the Pediatric Medical Education Office (HD-513), and a Shelf Review conducted with the Clerkship Director. We want you to excel in this area so if you are feeling underprepared or overwhelmed, let us know! We are here to help.

10% Portfolio Compilation

The intent of the portfolio is to ensure a well-rounded education experience during the Pediatric Clerkship. The following required items are intended to assist in the development of your medical skills by providing opportunities to practice newly acquired skills and attain feedback on your progress. There is a total of ten points for portfolio completion and it is 10% of your final grade.

1. Safety Presentation: During your time in Gainesville, you will participate in a conference where you will present a safety issue encountered during your time within inpatient wards. You will receive formative feedback on your team’s presentation. (1 point)
2. Ethics Conference: During your time in Gainesville, you will participate in a conference where you bring forth an ethical issue encountered during your time within inpatient wards. A short write-up is required for the conference and must be submitted to Canvas by Monday at 8 am the week of the conference. (1 point)
3. Mini-CEX Clinical Observation Form: At least one time during the outpatient portion of your clerkship and one time during the inpatient portion (two total), you will have a faculty or resident observe you perform a full H+P utilizing the Mini-CEX form. Afterwards, review with the faculty or resident for feedback. Submit the paper forms to Canvas or use the New Innovations app. (2 points)
4. Self-Assessment of Core Competencies: Complete a self-evaluation on your performance based on established clinical competencies; this will be assigned to you for completion by Monday at 11:59pm week three of the clerkship. You must provide numerical scores and upload to CANVAS to receive credit (0.5pt). You also need to complete a mid-rotation coaching form prior to your mid-rotation meeting with a clerkship director (0.5pt). (1 points)
5. Evaluations: You are required to complete 22 evaluations by the end of Week 8. These evaluations include an aggregate of seven lectures, seven faculty, seven residents and one clerkship evaluation. All evaluations are in New Innovations. (1 point)
6. Hand Off Evaluation: You will complete an Observed Handoff during inpatient using the I-PASS format. This is to be observed and signed off by a senior resident or attending. They will use a Qualtrics Link to sign off upon completion of this activity. (1 point)
7. UF COM Patient Log: You are required to complete this patient log with the required pediatric cases provided to you in the ‘Pediatric Competencies Checklist.’ Submit to Canvas by Friday 11:59pm week eight. (1 point)
8. End-of Clerkship Feedback Survey: You are required to complete the end of clerkship Qualtrics Survey.
9. Professionalism Mini Evaluation Exercise (P-MEX): You will request two P-MEX forms to be completed by a resident or faculty member you work with, as well as completing one for a peer on inpatient rotation. The peer evaluation will be assigned to you by the clerkship coordinator. (2 points)

The Department of Pediatrics utilizes a Grade Committee comprised of clerkship directors (3), nominated faculty in educational roles (3), and chief residents (2) that represent both Gainesville and Jacksonville campuses. This grade committee determines your final grade based on clinical evaluations, examination scores, and required assignments as outlined in the grade explanation.

• “Coaching up” faculty (telling them that certain numeric scores on their evaluation correlate to the grade) is misleading, unfair to the majority of students who do not do this and is considered unprofessional behavior. Engaging in this behavior will result in a lower professionalism evaluation and could affect your grade and the comments submitted for the MSPE.

Required clinical presentations, skills, and procedures
The clerkship is designed to expose you to the following core presentations, skills, and/or procedures, which are graduation requirements. If you have difficulty meeting any of these, an alternate method is listed in the table below.

Graduation requirements: UF COM patient log. A comprehensive list of core presentations, skills, and procedures are found in the ‘Pediatric Competencies Checklist.’ If clinical experiences limit exposure, alternative Aquifer Cases have been provided in this checklist.

In addition to the graduation requirements, the pediatric clerkship also requires the following:

Clerkship requirements: Pediatric Clerkship Portfolio, including the completion of 8 Aquifer Cases

Video instructions on how to complete case logs in New Innovation are on the Phase 2 Canvas Page.

Professionalism Mini Evaluation Exercise (P-MEX)

The Professionalism Mini Evaluation Exercise (P-MEX) is an instrument used to assess professionalism in clinical training. The evaluator rates the trainee on 24 different directly observable items of medical professionalism over four different skill areas: doctor-patient relationship skills, reflective skills, time management, and interprofessional relationship skills.

You will be required to obtain the following over the course of the rotation:

• 2 to be completed be a faculty or resident with whom you closely work. You will solicit these yourself, which will be aimed at providing real-time formative assessment
• 1 peer evaluation, which the clerkship administrative team will assign to a peer with whom you work closely on one of your core inpatient teams
• Up to 1 from the clerkship coordinator. The administrative team will assign these such that you receive two over the course of the year.

Remediation Policy

Students must satisfactorily complete all required components of each clerkship. Students who do not do so will receive an incomplete grade (N*) for the clerkship until all components are satisfactorily completed. Students with an unsatisfactory performance in any area should discuss the process and timing of remediation with the clerkship director. Failure to satisfy a clinical or professionalism component is remediated by the satisfactory completion of an individualized plan of remediation. This remediation should be proposed by the clerkship director and approved by the Academic Status Committee.

Attendance & Absences Policy

Daily attendance is required at all pediatric clerkship activities. We consider you an integral member of the team with patient care responsibilities. Thus, when you are absent, someone else covers these responsibilities and you cannot “make-up” most assignments. For this reason, on this clerkship, planned absences are strongly discouraged and should be reserved for emergency situations.

Medical Absences
Students are encouraged to maintain their own personal health throughout medical school. This includes their dental, mental and/or physical health. Ideally, students will make every effort to schedule these appointments at dates/times that do not conflict with required education activities. When this is not possible, students must submit their request for an excused absence to the relevant course/clerkship director(s). Upon approval, the director will notify the student of makeup requirements and due date, if appropriate. Additionally, students will not be penalized for absence from class or other scheduled academic activities for medical reasons. This applies to absences for acute illnesses as well as to absences due to regularly scheduled ongoing treatment for dental, mental or physical health. For any questions and/or concerns regarding this policy, students are to consult the Associate Dean for Medical Education or Student Affairs.

Unplanned Absences
In the case of an unexpected absence, the student MUST notify the responsible faculty/mentor or senior resident (when on a clinical service), the Course/Clerkship Administrator and Director as soon as possible. The course or clerkship director will determine if the absence is excused or unexcused. All absences MUST be logged by the student into the absence monitoring system found on the Phase Canvas pages and at this link, https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6Dqr06IM4QtHmES. If the absence is longer than three days, the staff in the Office of Student Affairs and Registration (352-273-7971) and/or Dr. Meredith Thompson MUST also be notified. Failure to communicate unexpected absences promptly is a professionalism concern that can affect your final grade and, if a pattern of behavior is identified, necessitate review by the Academic Status Committee.

In the event of an unplanned absence, you will be required to make-up the time missed to ensure adequate clinical experience. This may require an extra call or weekend experience. Failure to adhere to these policies and procedures will result in a lowered professionalism competency score.

• At clerkship director discretion, up to ten pediatric clerkship days can be made up by completing a virtual pediatric experience. Clerkship leadership will assign Aquifer cases based on the student’s assignment during missed clinical experience. The student is responsible for completing at least six additional Aquifer cases for each day missed.
• Students are expected to participate in all virtual teaching sessions.
• If a student is unable to meet basic clinical clerkship requirements, receives inadequate pediatric clinical exposure and/or suboptimal evaluations from all four clinical pediatric locations (ED, Newborn, Outpatient, Inpatient), clerkship leadership will work with the student to schedule make-up clinical experiences as soon as is feasible with the clerkship and the student’s schedule.

Any make-up work that needs to be completed after the clerkship, will result in a hold grade of “Incomplete” until the clerkship requirements are completed, and the student is able to receive their final letter grade.

Jacksonville: In the event of any unexpected absence due to illness or an unexpected absence lasting more than one day, the Pediatric Medical Education office (352-273-8594) and Jacksonville Clerkship office (904-633-4176) must each be notified immediately.

Planned Absences
In the case of planned absences to attend meetings or family events such as a wedding or funeral, the student must use the centralized COM absence request form. https://airtable.com/appx1ysKoDJWo7mng/pag3EYqDWP6PF0HJD/form

If permission is obtained for the planned absence, the student must notify the Office of Medical Education (UFMedEd@ahc.ufl.edu) of the approved dates for the absence and log the absence in the absence monitoring system which is found on the Phase Canvas pages.

Holidays
During Phases 2 and 3 students are allotted the following breaks: Thanksgiving and a winter break (see the academic calendar for details). Thanksgiving break starts at the conclusion of clinical/academic responsibilities on Wednesday, and ends at the beginning of clinical/academic responsibilities on Monday. Third and fourth year students on scheduled clerkships and electives are NOT automatically off on official one day holidays listed on the academic calendar.

The COM recognizes that there are other holidays, both religious and secular, which are of importance to some individuals and groups. Students who wish to observe these holidays must inform the director before the course or clerkship begins, if applicable. The director may provide the student with an alternative arrangement to make-up the day(s) missed, on-call assignments, and examinations and other projects. The timing of make-up work is at the discretion of the course/clerkship director and may fall during vacation periods. Missed days which cannot be completed before the course end date will result in a grade of “Incomplete”. Students shall not be penalized due to absence from class or other scheduled academic activity because of religious observances.

If a faculty member is informed of, or is aware, that a significant number of students are likely to be absent from class because of a religious observance, a major examination or other academic event should not be scheduled at that time.

A student who is to be excused from class for a religious holy day is not required to provide a second party certification of the reasons for the absence. A student who believes that they have been unreasonably denied an education benefit due to religious beliefs or practices may seek redress through the student grievance procedure, see UF Regulation 4.012.

Policy on student evaluations

• Each student must complete at least 75% of all assigned faculty, resident, and small group leader evaluation forms associated with a course/clerkship in each year of enrollment. There is an expectation of 100% completion on overall course and clerkship evaluations.
• Every student is expected to respond in a professional manner to each item which she/he feels qualified to answer.
• Strict confidentiality of responses is assured. Evaluation data (numerical ratings and student comments) is de-identified. However, the completion of evaluations will be tracked.

COLLEGE OF MEDICINE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES HANDBOOK

The following topics are covered in the College of Medicine Policies and Procedures Handbook

COLLEGE OF MEDICINE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES HANDBOOK

The following topics are covered in the College of Medicine Policies and Procedures Handbook

COLLEGE OF MEDICINE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES HANDBOOK

The following topics are covered in the College of Medicine Policies and Procedures Handbook