Year III – Clinical

During the forty-eight week long Year III program, students engage in clinical clerkships in Mercer-affiliated community teaching hospitals. These community teaching hospitals include Medical Center Navicent Health and HCA Coliseum Medical Centers in Macon, HCA Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, Piedmont Columbus Regional and St. Francis Hospital in Columbus, and SGMC Health in Valdosta. There are additional rural sites available throughout Georgia.

The clerkships include a blend of ambulatory and hospital-based patient care to provide students with the comprehensive clinical experience essential to a general medical education. The clerkships are Internal Medicine (twelve weeks), Surgery (eight weeks), Psychiatry (six weeks), Pediatrics (eight weeks), Family Medicine (eight weeks), and Obstetrics and Gynecology (six weeks). There are three longitudinal curricular experiences during Year III: the Longitudinal Course which covers topics such as Quality Improvement in Healthcare and the U.S. Healthcare System; the discussion-based Ethics Course; and a radiology lecture series, which builds on the foundation of basic terminology and anatomy established during the pre-clinical years and emphasizes the recognition of common pathologic conditions via a variety of imaging modalities.