Year I and II

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• View Competencies of the MD Educational Program

Mercer students begin clinical experiences within the first few weeks of medical school. Interviewing techniques and physical examination skills, learned through encounters with standardized patients, are strengthened through clinical experiences in the offices of local practicing physicians throughout the first two years of training. Also, through the Community Science courses administered through the Community Medicine program, students are matched with Georgia communities which they visit throughout medical school to learn about patient care, disease prevention and health promotion. 

Year III and IV
Students will select between the teaching hospital campuses in Macon (Medical Center of Central Georgia) or Savannah (Memorial Health University Medical Center) as their primary campus for the clinical experiences in year III and IV. MUSM maintains educational offices and student support services on both campuses. Students are allowed to participate in curricular activities on either campus during year III and IV within the constraints of scheduling and availability of the requested experience.

The Year III program of the curriculum consists of 48 weeks of clinical clerkships in Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Surgery. During these clerkships the students participate in patient care activities under the supervision of attending physicians and residents. The amount of inpatient and outpatient experience varies among the clerkships. Students are required to participate in patient care activities on weekends as determined by the clerkships. Students are required to participate in a call schedule for most of the rotations and remain overnight in the hospital when "on call". Call rooms are provided on the hospital campuses.

The Year IV program includes required experiences in Emergency Medicine (4 weeks), Critical Care (4 weeks), Community Science (4 weeks), and 22 weeks of elective experiences. The Critical Care requirement may be satisfied in adult or pediatric critical care venues. The final Community Science experience occurs for each student in the same outlining practice setting as the Year I and Year II experience. The elective experiences may be chosen from an extensive selection of offerings on the clinical teaching campuses, or students may choose to take up to 12 weeks of electives at other medical schools. Unscheduled time is provided for residency interviews. The Year IV program is intended to allow students to round out their clinical training experience while exploring different specialties as career options.  (See Year IV Program for more information)

For more information 'See Curriculum'