Introductory Clinical Experiences 1-4 Description:

The Introductory Clinical Experience (ICE) Course exposes MS1 and MS2 students to a wide array of clinical activities.  Beginning early in Year 1 and continuing through the end of Year 2, students spend 3-4 hours during each ICE week participating in a clinically related activity.  ICE is organized into four-week blocks; four in Year 1 and six in Year 2.  Within each four-week ICE block, students will rotate among four core components: Longitudinal Clinical Experience, Primary Care, Clinical Rotations, and Inter Professional Experience (see Table below).  ICE is intended to provide early clinical exposure and, whenever possible, to provide real world clinical correlations to topics being covered in the Foundations of Medicine courses.

Longitudinal Clinical Experience Description (LCE):

The Longitudinal Clinical Experiences (LCE) component of ICE provides students with exposure to a model geriatric care program and affords students to work with the same geriatric patients over an extended period of time during their first two years.  LCE is offered at CentraCare, a PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) organization. The mission of CentraCare is to provide comprehensive care for frail older adults. The care provided at CentraCare is centered on the belief that interdisciplinary care is the best type of care for this patient population, and that frail older adults are best served in their own home in the community as they age.

Students will participate in LCE during one of every 4 ICE weeks at the CentraCare location in either Kalamazoo or Battle Creek. In each session, students will observe the interdisciplinary approach to care for this patient population and interact with the interdisciplinary team members as they care for CentraCare patients. The ICE LCE at CentraCare will enable students to gain insight into the disciplines crucial to providing comprehensive care for frail older adults and to maintaining them safely in the community. In addition, the LCE is structured in a longitudinal format with continuity of relationships with the interdisciplinary team members and with specific participants with whom students will be paired. During the systems-based Foundations of Medicine Courses, each LCE session will include an educational activity that will address geriatric considers related to the system being studied.

Primary Care Experience Description (PC):

The Primary Care component of ICE occurs once during each four-week ICE block. Two half-day sessions in Family Medicine and two in Pediatrics are offered in Year 1 and six sessions in Internal Medicine are offered in Year 2. During Primary Care students will become increasingly comfortable seeing patients by themselves.  Resident and attending physicians will serve as clinical preceptors.  To the extent possible, students will work with the same clinical preceptors.  Students are expected to encounter a variety of primary care patients.  Clinical preceptors will be made aware of the Foundations of Medicine course topics being covered during each four-week ICE block.  Whenever practical, preceptors will attempt to correlate these topics with actual patient encounters

Community Care Experience Description:

During Year 1, students will participate in a 3-4-hour Community Care Clinical Rotation.  During Year 1 students will spend one 4-hour session with home healthcare nurses.  This experience provides students with insight into the important role homecare nurses play in the healthcare system. Optionally, a student may schedule either a fire department medical first responder unit visit, a session with a paramedic ambulance, or both.  These sessions are intended to allow students to perform basic emergency medical assessment and treatment skills that they acquired during the medical first responder course. All of these experiences afford students the unique opportunity to gain insight into diverse home environments that are representative of those of their future patients. 

Emergency Care Experience Description:

The Acute Care Clinical Rotations take place in hospital emergency departments during five ICE blocks throughout Year 2.  While students will not be conducting the initial assessment, they will be able to assess patients who present with various acute clinical conditions.  It is anticipated that during each 4-hour session there will likely be at least one patient with a clinical condition that correlates to the student’s current Foundation of Medicine topic.  Resident and attending emergency physicians will serve as clinical preceptors.  In addition to assessing patients, students will also have opportunities to perform or assist in a variety of common emergency procedures.