MS4 Catalog

MS4's and D4's Caring For Individuals from Different Backgrounds - Virtual

LOCATION: Online
PRECEPTOR: Stephanie Ferimer, MD
DURATION: 4 weeks 
OFFERED: For AY 2024-2025, Blocks 9 & 11
MAXIMUM ENROLLMENT: 5
STATUS: Elective - WVU students only 
NOTES: If you have completed the same clinical rotation you can not take the Online rotation.

OBJECTIVES:

The purpose of this online, Inter-professional experience (IPE) course is to further medical and dental students' knowledge about health care disparities and the role they may play in them; and to increase students' skills in caring for patients from diverse backgrounds.

Patient Care:

Identify health disparities affecting various populations and emphasize the need to provide equal, evidence-based care to all patients.

Medical Knowledge:

Identify basic and clinical knowledge concepts as it pertains to medical issues that may be more prevalent in specialized populations.

Practice-Based Learning:

  1. Demonstrate the ability to use peer-reviewed literature to effectively and cogently evaluate patient care practices and modify management plans appropriately based on the information.
  2. Students are expected to demonstrate receptiveness to feedback provided during the rotation with appropriate modification of behavior to improve performance.

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS AND COMMUNICATION:

  1. Demonstrate effective oral communication skills with the course director, classmates and other health professional students during the on-line sessions.

  2. Students also must demonstrate effective written communication skills in their assignments.

Professionalism:

  1. Demonstrate timeliness in regards to online-sessions and assignment deadlines is expected

  2. Additionally, students are expected to uphold the WVU values of curiosity, respect, accountability and appreciation.

Systems-Based Practice:

Demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of health care and the ability to effectively call on system resources to provide optimal care for all patients.


METHODS TO ACHIEVE OBJECTIVES:

  1. Students will be assigned readings, and they are expected to engage in self-directed learning by reviewing a patient treatment protocol or guideline to increase their knowledge base and the knowledge of their classmates.

  2. Students will also complete Implicit Association Tests (IAT), and self-reflect on the results and consider strategies to address the results, as guided by their faculty mentor.

  3. There will be three, two-hour synchronous on-line sessions; time and day to be determined each block, depending upon students' availability.

EXAMINATION PROCEDURES AND EVALUATION CRITERIA:

Formative Assessment:
Students will be given verbal feedback about meeting deadlines for assignments and guidance on demonstrating the learning objectives. Students who are in jeopardy of failing the course will be given feedback designed to help them achieve the learning objectives.

Summative Assessment:

  1. Complete all readings BEFORE each interactive on­line session
  2. Join the interactive synchronous on-line sessions (time and day determined each block, depending upon students' availability) and participate in the discussion
  3. Students must find two references concerning their future specialties and present them to the class.  One reference will be an article about health disparities and the second reference will be an algorithm guideline or protocol which promotes patient care.
  4. Self-reflect on all of the readings and discussion from the class, and write a synopsis or bullet points describing your personal strategy to provide equal health care to all. Be prepared to share your synopsis with the class, limited to 5-7 minutes on the last day of the class. The written synopsis must be in Times New Roman Font, size 12, double-spaced and one page or less.


PRIOR TO THE FIRST DAY OF THE ROTATION:

Dental and/or medical students will contact their respective elective director at least one month prior to the start of the elective to set up a time to meet and plan the students schedule for the elective.