After the USMLE Step I is complete, the students are introduced to their clinical experiences through Transition to Clerkships, a two-week block which incorporates a series of teaching sessions and simulation activities that will prepare students for the clinical setting and the academic rigor of the clerkship experience. Large and small group sessions are designed to cover a number of important topics including:

  • Lab Medicine.
  • Radiology Overview.
  • Patient Safety and Quality Care.
  • Resuscitation and ACLS.
  • Communication Skills.
  • Cultural Competency.
  • Ethics and Professionalism.
  • Giving and Receiving Feedback.
  • Mobile Decision Support Tools and Biomedical Informatics.
  • Recognizing Fatigue.
  • Clinical Boot Camp.
  • Integrative Medicine. 

The Transitions to Clerkship Block incorporates a series of teaching sessions and simulation activities that helps you synthesize everything you have learned in the first two years of medical school and prepares you to excel in your clinical rotations. Experts in their fields, our faculty have prepared interactive presentations that will equip you with the fundamental tools needed to launch you into the clinical setting with competence and confidence! The tools you learn in this block will empower you to succeed in your clinical rotations and throughout your entire medical career.

Learning Objectives

Educational Program Objectives are a subset of more broadly defined physician competencies, which represent general domains of performance for which the profession and the public hold physicians accountable.

The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix (COM-P) measures these outcomes both quantitatively (via USMLE style assessments) and qualitatively (via behavioral competency assessments).

Upon completing the Transitions to Clerkship Block, students should be able to:

  • Describe the expectations and responsibilities of the clinical clerkship years and apply strategies to balance professional duties with personal wellbeing.
  • Demonstrate professionalism in clinical settings and apply conflict-management strategies when challenges arise.
  • Analyze cognitive biases that influence clinical decision making and apply strategies to mitigate them.
  • Explain the role of laboratory medicine, transfusion medicine, and pathology in patient care.
  • Perform history-taking and physical examination skills to evaluate patients and propose differential diagnoses and management plans.
  • Communicate clinical findings clearly and efficiently through refined oral and written communication strategies with interprofessional team members.
  • Integrate evidence-based medicine resources into case presentations by formulating focused questions, appraising evidence, and justifying clinical decisions.
  • Select appropriate radiographic studies based on clinical presentation and apply a systematic approach to interpreting basic imaging.
  • Demonstrate basic procedural techniques and apply resuscitation principles in simulated patient care scenarios.