MDC7710
EMERGENCY MEDICINE

MDC7710: EMERGENCY MEDICINE
Clerkship Syllabus – AY 25-26
Duration: 4 weeks
Clerkship Web Page

Emergency Medicine Organization and Locations

Department Chairs
Mary Patterson, M.D., M.Ed. (GNV)
Steven A Godwin M.D. (JAX)

Emergency Department Medical Directors
Liam Holtzman, D.O. (GNV Adult ED)
Carolyn Holland, M.D., M. Ed (GNV Pediatric ED)
Sitha Konopack, M.D., FACEP (GNV Kanapaha Freestanding ED)
Christine Gage, D.O. (JAX Adult ED)
Todd Wylie, M.D. (JAX Pediatric ED)

Emergency Medicine Residency Leadership
Meredith Thompson, M.D., M.A.Ed. (GNV Vice Chair of Education)
Lars Beattie, M.D., M.S. (GNV Program Director)
Nicholas Maldonado, M.D. (GNV Asst. Program Director)
Caroline Srihari, M.D. (GNV Asst. Program Director)
David Roberts, M.D. (GNV Asst. Program Director)
Melissa Parsons, M.D. (JAX Program Director)
Chelsea Allen, D.O. (JAX Asst. Program Director)
Aman Pandey M.D. (JAX Asst. Program Director)

UF Health Gainesville Emergency Department Locations

1515 SW Archer Road, Gainesville, FL 32608 (352) 733-0800
7405 SW Archer Road, Gainesville, FL 32608 (352) 627-0500
Pediatric Emergency Department 1600 SW Archer Road, Gainesville, FL 32608 (352) 265-5437
Emergency Department Administrative Offices 1329 SW 16th Street Suite 5270, Gainesville, FL 32610 (352) 265-5911

UF Health Jacksonville Emergency Department Locations
Adult Emergency Department 655 W 8th St, Jacksonville Fl. 32209 (904) 244-5044 (904) 244-2374
Emergency Department Administrative Offices 655 W 8th St, Jacksonville Fl. 32209 Shell Bldg. (904) 244-4046

CLERKSHIP INFORMATION

Clerkship Description
Welcome to the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Emergency Medicine Clerkship!
We have two main goals for your time with us:

• To introduce you to the Emergency Department and the practice of Emergency Medicine. Some of you may be pursuing this field, and we want to help prepare you for residency and the rest of your career. Many of you will pursue other fields and will still need to know how the emergency department works, including its assets and liabilities, because everyone in the house of medicine will need to interact with the ED at some point.
• To provide all UFCOM graduates with the skill set necessary to begin the evaluation, stabilization, and treatment of acutely presenting, undifferentiated patients. While these skills are core to emergency physicians, any healthcare professional may suddenly find themselves alone with an acutely ill patient, often during residency and usually when you least expect it. Better be prepared than sorry!

When you walk through the doors of our ED, you will see a diverse mix of patients with a broad scope of acuity and presentations. You will perform initial evaluations on your patients and follow them throughout their work-up, re-evaluating their progress until admission or discharge. There will also be several opportunities to get involved in the resuscitation of critically ill medical or trauma patients and to assist in life-saving procedures.
The Emergency Medicine Clerkship is heavily weighted toward the clinical experience and the direct care of acutely ill patients. Education will be augmented by bedside teaching and ad hoc didactics on shift, asynchronous emergency medicine educational opportunities, optional resident educational conference, and dedicated student teaching sessions. Many of your student sessions occur in the simulation center, where you will have the opportunity to practice your skills caring for critically ill medical, pediatric, and trauma patients. You will also have opportunities to observe and perform bedside procedures and participate in activities that pull back the curtain on critical processes that keep a busy ED running. We strive to provide every student with a safe, informative, and interactive experience. Our outstanding faculty, residents, and nurses aim to deliver excellent teaching as well as student-centered feedback for your personal growth as a physician.
Emergency medicine is a team sport! Please feel empowered to jump right in. Come eager to learn, work hard, and help your patients and colleagues in our high-stakes, fast-paced environment. You and your future patients will benefit from this experience.

Clinical Roles and Responsibilities

• At the beginning of each shift, please introduce yourself to your attending and upper-level resident and discuss their personal approaches regarding seeing patients (some curate more than others. What are your goals for the shift?). Some attendings and residents may give you more responsibility, whereas others may prefer more supervision and oversight.
• Take ownership of your patients. You should always be aware of your patient’s status. You must ensure that your patient’s needs (labs, x-rays, IV’s, fluids, etc.) are met. You are an integral part of your patients’ care.
• After you complete your history and physical exam, promptly present your patient and management plan to either the attending or an upper-level resident. Remember not to overlook vital signs, mental status and overall appearance and health of your patient. This is an ideal time to ask questions and obtain feedback on your management skills.
• If the resident or attending alters the management plan, be sure you understand the rationale for the revised plan.
• If a patient you are managing deteriorates or appears to be in distress, notify an upper-level resident or attending immediately. Even if you are unsure, please notify someone immediately.
• Always follow universal precautions.
• You must have HIPPA training prior to beginning any shifts in the Emergency Department and must always observe patient confidentiality. While the Emergency Department is often a difficult environment in which to maintain confidentiality, all efforts need to be made to maintain confidentiality. If an environment exists that makes either you or the patient uncomfortable sharing information, please solicit help in rectifying the problem. Get consent from patients before discussing any medical information in front of others (including visitors in the patient’s room).
• Consultants should be addressing specific questions about a patient and should not be called to see patients that should be managed by the Emergency Department. You can allow the residents or attending to discuss the case with consultants, but you are encouraged to speak with consultants as needed. Communication is an essential part of medicine, and you should be able to articulate a problem to a specialist by using proper terms and descriptions.
• Observe and/or perform procedures per the discretion of the resident and attending.
• When there is downtime or no new patients to see, complete your scavenger hunt. You may seek out interesting presentations or procedures in other areas of the department at the discretion of your attending as well.
• When leaving at the end of a shift, make certain that all your patients are signed out to the next team and make sure the senior resident or attending is aware of the change. Never leave the department without signing out a patient to the oncoming team.
• Arrive on time for all shifts and teaching sessions. This is part of your professionalism grade. Sign-out begins promptly at the beginning of each shift. Be sure to sign in for all required didactic sessions.
• Professional work attire is required. Solid color scrubs are acceptable and preferred (OR greens require lab coat out of ED in Jax). Lab coats are optional in the ED.

Clerkship Objectives and Relationship to College of Medicine Institutional Learning Objectives

Goal 1. Develop the clinical skills necessary to quickly assess and stabilize acutely presenting patients. This includes recognizing potential instability, and beginning actions aimed at resuscitating and stabilizing decompensating medical and trauma patients.

(Plain talk: Teach future residents what to do when they are confronted with acutely ill or injured people: how to do good (and avoid doing harm) until more advanced help arrives)

Goal 2. Understand (and appreciate) the “Emergency Department” perspective when approaching acutely presenting patients. This specifically relates to rapid assessment, developing diagnostic/treatment plans and establishing appropriate disposition.

(Plain talk: Get what it takes to see unexpected patients, with limited information, and make reasonable decisions about what to do and where they should go…recognizing that the ED is the stopgap to make sure nothing dangerous slips through the cracks)

Goal 3. Recognize (and function within) the “team-approach” to patient care, including its rapid division of labor and fluid provider roles. Be able to compare collaborative and interprofessional approaches to the solo, linear, or hierarchical command structures common in other healthcare venues. Make appropriate use of ancillary and consultant services, as needed, to move care plans forward.

(Plain talk: See how ED teams work and pay special attention to the challenges of leading the group, when things are fast, confusing, and uncontrolled.)

Goal 4. Build communication skills necessary to facilitate rapid effective information gathering and transfer. Obtain, formulate, and deliver complete and concise case presentations to other care providers, produce expedient charting, and communicate with patients and families during and after the course of their care.

(Plain talk: Recognize why we often talk differently than other services, and learn the importance of rapid info transfer, “minimum necessary histories”, updating patients, and delivering DC instructions and return precautions.)

Goal 5. Become familiar with common procedures, and data interpretation, frequently used in patient stabilization and diagnostic/management decision making. Become familiar with risk-stratification tools employed in disposition decisions.

(Plain talk: Get a chance to learn and practice vascular access, airway management, ACLS and trauma resuscitation procedures, CPR. Get a chance to interpret data important in making initial management and disposition decisions).

Goal 6. Explore the relationship of professionalism, and professional behaviors, to the provider-patient, provider-team, and provider colleague interactions. The ED is an area where professionalism is often challenged (conflict resolution, de-escalation, dissatisfaction management, delivering bad news/grief management). Practice developing and exhibiting professional behaviors; and observe (and learn from) breakdowns of these professional behaviors.

(Plain talk: Watch seniors in a place where professionalism really gets put to the test. Adopt best practices from those who do it well and learn from those who struggle with it.)

Goal 7. Appreciate the impact of Health Care Disparities on healthcare access and delivery. The ED is frequently where failures of our healthcare system are identified. Health Systems Science incorporates the study of factors frequently contributing to these failures. This includes the significant role played by issues such as diversity, implicit bias, access to health care, social determinants of health, health literacy challenges, equity in providing care for the ED population, etc.

(Plain talk: See, first-hand, the challenges that social determinants of health can cause in the ability to deliver health care.)

Goal 8. Provide a “capstone experience” designed to reinforce the sum of the learning from the MS1-3 years. Foster vertical integration by providing students an opportunity for deliberate practice in areas they feel will best help prepare them for success during residency (including longitudinal threads). Reinforce horizontal integration by providing an opportunity to follow patients between services (into or out of) the emergency department, as different services cooperate in the coordination of complex patient care.

(Plain talk: Use this month to fine tune the specific things you need to work on for next year.)

Clerkship Learning Opportunities

The Emergency Medicine Clerkship is a four-week experience that takes place in both the adult and pediatric emergency departments at UF Health (and/or UF Health-Jacksonville). During this rotation, you will be interacting directly with Emergency Medicine residents and faculty. We hope the clerkship will be a rewarding clinical experience.

Emergency Medicine is not algorithm driven, and no two patients are the same. Likewise, no two physicians practice in an identical manner. By observing the approach of various physicians, you will notice differences in evaluations and workups; different ways to approach a given problem(s). As you grow as a physician, you will develop your own “style” of practice. This is a great opportunity to watch different aspects of decision making and learn the pros and cons of different approaches to similar situations. This concept also applies to professional and interpersonal behaviors. Watch closely: emulate role models and learn from the mistakes of those who struggle in specific areas. Medical school, residency and early practice years are all about learning from every experience. Integrate the knowledge, practices, and behaviors you learn toward the development of your own style as you become a competent and confident practicing clinician.

Orientation
On the first day of the clerkship students should report to the Emergency Medicine Offices on the fifth floor of the 1329 building (or EMS offices downstairs MedEd Conference room- Shell Bldg- Jax) unless notified to meet elsewhere. You will be contacted by email regarding the specific date, time and location of orientation for confirmation. Orientation will include an introduction to the specialty of emergency medicine, expectations and rules, explanation of clerkship activities, and a tour of the adult and pediatric emergency departments. This is a required activity.

Required Clinical Presentations 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: overdose/toxidromes, IV insertion, ECG
• Alternate: simulation activity

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

• Clerkship Requirements: n/a

The ED will expose you to a variety of clinical presentations and procedures. During the EM rotation, students are strongly encouraged to review their patient presentation log and ensure they complete any remaining patient presentations that are required for graduation. Please reach out to the clerkship director ASAP if you have any remaining graduation requirements to complete on the EM clerkship. Video instructions on how to complete case logs in New Innovation are on the Phase 2 Canvas Page.

The ED is also one of the few clinical settings where students can practice evaluating an undifferentiated patient. This offers a unique capstone experience to integrate the knowledge you have acquired during all of medical school. As such, clerkship students should seek to evaluate patients as well as observe/perform procedures that fall into the following categories (including, but not limited to):

Shift Schedule (14 shifts per rotation + EMS Ride Along)
Your experience includes 14 clinical shifts. The shift schedule will be given to you via email prior to orientation. Each shift is eight hours. We recommend you bring food, your stethoscope, a pen, sensible shoes, and other resources needed at your discretion. We have places for your possessions while on shifts, but it is best to bring only what is necessary, as the ED is not the most controlled environment. The specific shifts start at either 7 AM, 3 PM, 11 PM, or 2 PM (GNV KED shift only). After being dismissed by a member of the team, you are done for the day, unless there are other didactic sessions.

Freestanding Shifts (GNV)
All students have the opportunity in Gainesville to rotate at our freestanding ED (Kanapaha) to have more of a community ED experience compared to our main ED. This shift will be 2-10 PM. This opportunity is not available on Mondays.

EMS Ride Along
One emergency medical service (EMS) ride-along “shift” is part of your EM experience. In Gainesville this will be scheduled for you with Alachua County Fire Rescue. In Jacksonville you will self-schedule with the Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department. An EMS ride-along evaluation form is provided and should be returned at the end of the rotation. Please wear dark pants, comfortable closed-toe shoes, and a polo shirt of any color other than gray (no scrubs). Long hair should be tied back. Minimal jewelry is recommended. No jeans, scrubs, T-shirts, or flip-flops. Note, you are representing both UF and the Fire Rescue Department during your ride along. You may be sent home for inappropriate attire. This is an excellent (and often the only) opportunity in medical school to see how first responders work in the field. In the event your ride-along is canceled, or missed due to absence, you may be assigned an additional clinical shift or other alternate activity to ensure adequate clinical experience.

EM Scavenger Hunt
Much work goes into caring for patients and keeping the emergency department running that you may never learn about in medical school. The scavenger hunt was designed to pull back the curtain on those critical processes that keep a busy ED running. Use any downtime you have on your rotation to complete. You will perform tasks and have the supervisor sign off in the box on the card. This will need to be uploaded by the end of the clerkship.

Resident Conference
Attendance at resident conferences is optional but is strongly recommended for those students who are pursuing a career in emergency medicine. Conferences are held every Thursday from 8 am – 1 pm. The Clerkship Coordinator will email you weekly conference locations, times, and topics. Please contact the Clerkship Coordinator and/or Clerkship Director if you have not received instructions for the conference location.

GNV Required Learning Activities
We have required learning activities designed specifically for medical students. Many are hands-on experiential learning activities which utilize patient simulations and small group application activities. The tentative schedule for didactic sessions is below. Please refer to email communication for exact dates, times, and locations.

JAX Required Learning Activities
We have required learning activities designed specifically for medical students. Many are hands-on experiential learning activities which utilize patient simulations and small group application activities. The tentative schedule for didactic sessions is below. Please refer to email communication for exact dates, times, locations, or any changes.

Emergency Medicine Pre-Internship Resident Experience for Students EMPIRES (GNV)
EMPIRES is a focused experience within the emergency medicine clerkship that specifically targets the knowledge and skills necessary to support the transition from student to resident. Undifferentiated acutely ill patients present significant diagnostic and medical decision-making challenges for new residents irrespective of specialty. This is your opportunity to safely see and evaluate multiple patients with varying levels of acuity and disease processes.

During your EMPIRES shifts you will work within a student-only team in the emergency department under the direct supervision of an experienced emergency medicine physician (also known as your advanced clinical coach). You will manage your own patients throughout the entire care process including entering orders, calling consults, and completing hand-offs when your shift is complete. You will receive formative feedback based on direct observation from your faculty using the Mini-CEX as a guide (will not be turned in).

Instructional Materials

Canvas Website
Many useful items are available on canvas for the clerkship. Here you will find the syllabus, reference resources that are useful on shift, and shelf exam study materials.

BOG Attestation Regarding Clerkship 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

Recommended Textbooks (available online through the Health Science Library)

• Rosen’s Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice by John Marx MD
• Tintinalli’s Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide, Seventh Edition by Judith Tintinalli, J. Stapczynski, O. John Ma, David Cline, Rita Cydulka, Garth Meckler
• Clinical Procedures in Emergency Medicine by Roberts and Hedges

Easy to Use Reference Texts

• Ottawa Handbook of Emergency Medicine– https://emottawablog.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Final-Ottawa-Handbook-of-Emergency-Medicine-4th-Edition-V4.pdf
• Tintinalli’s Emergency Medicine: Just the Facts, Third Edition by David Cline and O. John Ma
• The Atlas of Emergency Medicine, Third Edition by Kevin Knoop et al.
• First Aid for the Emergency Medicine Clerkship, Stead et al.

Condensed Reference Texts

• Quick Hits in Emergency Medicine by Brandon Allen, Latha Ganti, and Bobby Desai
• Quick Hits in Pediatric Emergency Medicine by Cristina Zertzke-Bien, Tricia Swan, and Brandon Allen
• Tarascon Emergency Department Quick Reference Guide by D. Brady Pregerson
• Tarascon Adult Emergency Pocketbook by Steven G. Rothrock
• Tarascon Pediatric Emergency Pocketbook by Steven G. Rothrock

Internet Resources

• Great podcasts on EM topics– http://www.emclerkship.com
• EMBASIC- https://embasic.org/
• CDEM (Clerkship Directors in EM) curriculum– https://www.saem.org/cdem/education/online-education/m4-curriculum
• Rosh Review—must pay for subscription
• EmCrit.org – blog but has some excellent commentary especially on dominating the vent
• Up-to-Date – always useful and indeed up to date on most topics.
• http://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/content.php?pid=32869&sid=240882 – this site contains dozes of on-line references including easy to read EKG books and books and references dedicated to all areas of emergency medicine

Computer Requirement

Students are not required to bring a laptop for purposes related to the rotation. Personal laptops can be utilized in clinical spaces and should meet the computer requirements laid out by the College of Medicine (https://osa.med.ufl.edu/support/policies-procedures/computer-requirement/).

Formative Feedback

Shift Evaluations
You will need a shift evaluation form filled out for every shift of the rotation. These are designed to give you longitudinal feedback on your performance during the entire rotation (and to facilitate mid-clerkship feedback). They also serve as your “proof-of-attendance” on shifts. You will complete these via an online form through Qualtrics. Faculty, upper-level EM residents, pediatric residents, and APPs can complete the shift evaluation. Please do not ask interns or off-service residents to complete the evaluation as they have not yet received the training required to assure fair grading and effective formative feedback. You may interact with interns -they are a wealth of knowledge and experience, especially for rising students facing internships themselves, but please leave shift evaluation forms to senior residents and faculty. Evaluators are instructed to provide feedback on your performance while completing the form. Please take this time as an opportunity to solicit feedback on your performance as well. Approximately 45-60 minutes before the end of each shift, approach your shift’s attending or senior resident reminding them that you need an evaluation of your shift performance. The shift evaluation form has space to list the cases and procedures you have seen that day. Please complete this to the best of your ability. This will not be used to calculate your grade but to ensure we are giving you adequate clinical experience.

Mid-Clerkship Feedback
Students are required to obtain written formative feedback from a faculty member and submit it at the end of the rotation. Students are STRONGLY encouraged to obtain written formative feedback from all supervisors with whom they have significant contact. At the halfway point of the rotation, students will be required to complete a self-evaluation and receive feedback on their performance.

Given the unique nature of the ED setting, this process will be built into our process for shift evaluations. You will be emailed a link to complete a virtual self-evaluation at the end of week 2 to be submitted no later than Tuesday of week 3 at 7 am. Failure to submit a self-evaluation will be noted as a professionalism concern and discussed during the grade committee. You will receive mid-clerkship feedback which includes a summary report of your shift evaluations and written feedback comments. This will be delivered to you at the beginning of week 3. Should you have any questions regarding your feedback please email the clerkship director.

Final Feedback
Students will also receive a summary report of all shift evaluations and written feedback comments at the end of their rotation. The content of this report will be the basis for the clinical shift evaluations portion of a student’s final grade.

ASSESSMENT

Formative Assessments

• End of Shift Feedback (summarized in mid-clerkship and end-of-clerkship report)
• Scheduled Learning Activities
• EMPIRES Shift (GNV)

Summative Assessments

• End of Shift Evaluations (see supplemental materials below)
• Scavenger Hunt and SDOH Project
• NBME Exam

Grading
Final grades will be based on:

*Students are evaluated on the following professionalism domains:

• Respectfulness
• Work Ethics and Dependability
  • Minimum completion Requirement – Students must attend all scheduled 8-hr shifts, excused up to 2 for emergencies, and required learning activities on time. They must complete all required and makeup assignments
• Motivation and Excellence
• Honesty

Grade Cut Offs:

• A 87.8+
• A- 83.9-87.79
• B+ 80.5-83.8
• B 77.5-80.49
• B- 73.4-77.49
• C+ 72.14-73.4
• C-F: <72.14 (specific grade and decision regarding failure of course to be determined via grade committee review on case-by-case basis)

Grade Committee:
A quorum of designated EM UME faculty and residents will meet monthly to discuss individual performances, possible grade adjustments, and final grade assignments. All questions regarding a student’s final grade and summative comments should be directed to the clerkship director.

POLILCIES
Clerkship-Specific Policies and Procedures

Communication
Unless otherwise stated during orientation, email will be the predominant source of communication from us regarding the clerkship. Email should also be your primary means of communicating with us. Our department is committed to excellent student experience, and we believe good communication is the principal foundation to achieving this goal. We expect you to check your email at least daily to stay up to date.

Reporting Problems
Problems with residents, attendings, nurses/staff, or other concerns should be reported to the clerkship director as soon as possible. We want the Emergency Medicine Clerkship to be a great experience and will address all concerns in an appropriate, timely manner.

If you are uncomfortable approaching the clerkship directors for any reason, please consider contacting student affairs or filing an anonymous report in the following link: https://students.med.ufl.edu/about/student-mistreatment-report/

For further information regarding medical student mistreatment, please refer to the Office of Student Affairs Policy and Procedures Handbook in the following link: https://osa.med.ufl.edu/policies-procedures/

Attendance

Attendance is required for all Emergency Medicine Clerkship activities. This includes attendance for orientation (first day of rotation), your scheduled shifts, EMS ride along, scheduled student learning activities, and the final exam (last Friday of rotation). During clinical rotations, typical “holidays” are not taken unless specifically mentioned during the orientation (Christmas and Thanksgiving are exempt from this rule). If you have any unexpected or planned absences, you MUST notify the clerkship director and clerkship coordinator as soon as possible.

Absence Policy & Reporting
We will adhere to the COM attendance and reporting policies, which supersede anything stated in this syllabus. Please refer to the following link for details: https://osa.med.ufl.edu/support/policies-procedures/attendance-policy-for-required-educational-activities/

The COM is in the process of creating an absence request form like those used during Phase 1. You may be required to use this once it goes live.

All absences must be logged in the absence monitoring system found in the Phase Canvas pages and in the following link: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6Dqr06IM4QtHmES

In the event of an absence, you may be required to make up the time missed to ensure adequate clinical experience. All absences beyond 2 shifts will result in additional make-up shift(s) assigned to you. Missed days which cannot be completed before the end of the clerkship date will result in a hold grade until made up.

Unplanned Absences
In the event of a single day, unexpected absence due to illness or personal emergency, you MUST notify the Clerkship Coordinator and Clerkship Director by email as soon as physically possible. The clerkship director will determine if an absence is excused or unexcused. Failure to communicate unexpected absences in a timely manner is a professionalism concern which can impact on your final clerkship grade. If the unplanned absence is of greater duration than three days (including missed days that are not back-to-back) the Office of Student Affairs must be notified (352-273-7971).

Planned Absences
To schedule certain days off, students must contact the clerkship director and coordinator as far in advance as possible, ideally >1 month prior to the start of the rotation, to discuss and obtain permission to be absent from assigned responsibilities. This may apply to interviews, planned meetings, events such as weddings or family gatherings, or observation of a personal religious holiday. During residency application season, the clerkship staff will make all efforts possible to schedule requirements around scheduled interviews. If that is not possible the student will be required to make up the requirements missed at the discretion of the clerkship director. We understand that some interview offers can come at the last minute. Please notify the clerkship director and coordinator as soon as possible in these situations.

Holidays
Students are allotted the following holidays: Thanksgiving, Summer Break and Winter Break. Thanksgiving is defined as beginning at 3pm Wednesday the day before Thanksgiving and ending at 5am the following Monday. Summer and Winter Break are determined by the UF COM Academic Calendar. The COM recognizes other holidays, both religious and secular, which are of importance to some individuals and groups. Students wishing to observe these holidays must inform the Clerkship Coordinator before their clerkship begins. In the event of such a request, an alternate assignment or arrangement may be provided to the student to ensure an adequate clinical experience.

Scheduling Clinical Shifts
You will be assigned 8-hr clinical shifts during any time of the day that is not protected by superseding holidays, required COM activities, or clerkship learning activities. Prior to the rotation, we will contact you to solicit scheduling requests for dates/times you would prefer not to work that cannot be excused by COM attendance policy (this will not count as an absence). We will do our best to satisfy all scheduling requests, but this is NOT guaranteed. This process CANNOT be used to request time off from required non-clinical activities such as orientation and scheduled learning activities.

Shift Trades
If there are days or times you would like to be off but were scheduled for a clinical shift, you may attempt to trade your shifts. All shift adjustments must be approved and tracked by the clerkship director and coordinator. This is for your wellness and safety.

Exposures to serious infectious diseases (i.e. TB, meningococcus) are often not identified until days later. For your safety, we need to ascertain who was in the department at what time to ensure your safety and to provide chemoprophylaxis.

For your wellness, we do not allow students to participate in back-to-back clinical shifts (i.e. 7am shift followed by a 3pm shift the same day). In general, we will not assign clinical shifts five or more days in a row. However, to satisfy everyone’s scheduling needs, we may schedule students to come in 5 or more days in a row with education-only days in-between. This is consistent with our expectations for residents. To allow further flexibility for students, we will allow trades into a schedule where students will work clinically 5 or more days in a row.

College of Medicine Policies

Academic Honesty
All students should understand the Student Conduct Code and Student Honor Code and be familiar with what constitutes a violation. The Honor Code specifies a number of behaviors (e.g., cheating, plagiarism) that violate this code and possible sanctions.

Students are obligated to report to the course director any violations of this code and any condition that facilitates academic misconduct. Consult the course director with any questions or concerns.

Every UF student is subject to the following Honor Pledge
“We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honesty and integrity by abiding by the Student Honor Code. On all work submitted for credit by Students at the University of Florida, the following pledge is either required or implied: On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment. Furthermore, I acknowledge that it is a violation of the Honor Code to capture or share assessments or assignments in any manner (e.g., download, duplicate, print, transcribe), in whole or in part, including taking screen shots or images with a computer, tablet, or camera, including a phone.”

Violations of the Student Conduct Code or Student Honor Code will be referred to the ASC.

Accommodations
The University of Florida is committed to providing academic accommodation for students with disabilities. Students requesting accommodation must first register with the Disability Resource Center (DRC) (352-392-8565 https://disability.ufl.edu/) by providing appropriate documentation. Once registered, students should present their accommodation letter to the ADA Representative, Mr. Jim Gorske, who will distribute the accommodation letter to appropriate course and/or clerkship directors, as needed, as well as the testing center. The University encourages students to register with the DRC as soon as they begin medical school or upon the verification of a disability.

Electronic Communication
All electronic correspondence to students related to assessments, grades, student academic records, and FERPA-regulated matters must be sent only to or from a Gatorlink (“ufl.edu”) email address. FERPA, like HIPAA, has specific legal and regulatory restrictions, with violations leading to adverse consequences (see http://www.registrar.ufl.edu/ferpa.html). It is against UF policy to auto-forward Gatorlink email to an outside email address (see http://www.it.ufl.edu/policies/email/electronic-mail).

Student Learning Culture
The University of Florida College of Medicine is committed to promoting a positive learning culture and treating all members of the college community fairly regarding both personal and professional concerns. The learning culture feedback policy ensures that concerns are promptly dealt with, and resolutions are reached in a fair and just manner. Mistreatment is any decision, act, or condition affecting a student that is determined to be illegal or unjust or that has created unnecessary hardship. Mistreatment may take the form of verbal or physical abuse, discrimination for any reason, or a requirement for individual service activity that is independent of requirements for other team members. Unprofessional behavior is an action that goes against accepted professionalism standards. Unprofessional behavior may take the form of usage of unprofessional or profane language or disrespect of other physicians, health professions, learners, or patients and families. Any concerns should be reported, including anonymously, using the Learning Culture Feedback Form. Any retaliatory action against students who report grievances in good faith is forbidden by the college. The college also wants to celebrate individuals who are exemplars in contributing positively to the learning environment and facilitate such behavior becoming an inherent part of our culture. These positive interactions can also be reported by using the Learning Culture Feedback Form.

Student Professionalism Lapse Reporting
Development of professionalism is a key outcome of the medical school curriculum and is evaluated as a core competency, as described above. Lapses should be reported at the Medical Student Portal under Resources (https://students.med.ufl.edu/about/student-professionalism-lapse-report/). Reports can be submitted anonymously and are kept confidential. Professionalism lapses by a student, faculty member, house staff, patient, or other staff should be reported through this mechanism.

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

Students Planning a Career in Emergency Medicine

Conference
As a student interested in EM, it is highly recommended that you attend resident conference. Conference is an excellent way to add to your EM knowledge as well as meet residents, attendings, and residency leadership.

Career Mentors (Gainesville)
EM-bound students will be paired with a longitudinal clinical mentor for 3-4 shifts during their time on rotation. The goal of this experience is for you to practice with your mentor as an acting intern. You will be expected to see patients independently, execute the plan of care you make with your attending, pend orders, call consults, etc. This will also provide you the opportunity to receive longitudinal feedback on your performance during the month.

EM-bound Dinners (Gainesville and Jacksonville)
During the month of your rotation, you will be invited to an informal dinner to meet our education faculty and residents. This is your opportunity to ask any questions regarding residency at UF. If there is a conflict with your clinical schedule you will be excused from your shift (or rescheduled) so you can attend.

Standard Letter of Evaluation (SLOE)
It is expected that any EM-bound student that rotates with us will request a SLOE. As such, we ask that you send your ERAS letter request as soon as possible. We cannot upload your letter until we receive this. The letter you receive will be a group SLOE from the UME and GME education leadership group. For any further questions regarding the SLOE process please contact the clerkship director. Please review Chapter 6 of EMRA and CORD EM Student Advising Guide (https://www.cordem.org/siteassets/images/bod-elections/emra-studentadvisingguide-2023_web-file.pdf) for an introduction to the SLOE. This gives great insight into what residency program directors want you to focus on during your clerkship time.

Residency Interviews
All UF students will be interviewed on a special UF-student-interview day early in the season. You will be notified once scheduled. We are typically able to interview externs while they rotate with us. If you would like to interview while on your externship, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can make the necessary arrangements.

PA Students

Shift Requirements
PA students finish on the 4th Wednesday of the rotation at 5 PM. As such, PA student shifts are reduced to 12 shifts per rotation.

Ride Along
PA students are not required to participate in a ride along. If you would like to please let us know as soon as possible and we will do our best to schedule one for you.

Exam
There are no exam requirements from our department for PA students. The PA school will provide guidance regarding any final exams for the rotation.

Summative Evaluation & Final Grades
All students, similar to medical students, will receive a summative evaluation from our department. The PA school will be responsible for the final grade assignment.