Idaho Foundations Site Information

A Day in the Life of an Idaho medical student:

Please note: “Free” time can sometimes be filled with required meetings.

Class time: Students have four or five hours of class per day, with most days incorporating interactive learning or laboratories and no more than two hours of lecture. A limited number of learning experiences may be scheduled outside of normal class hours. Class delivery methods vary by block and within a block. All blocks are designed to have predominantly active learning approaches. Students are expected to come prepared to participate in class discussions. All courses have periodic assessments and a final examination. Block objectives and core content for which students will be held accountable on exams will be the same across all WWAMI sites. Exams will have the same questions and format and be administered in person. The timing of exams may vary slightly across Foundation sites.

Block teaching (Fundamentals of Medical Science & Research and Infections & Immunity, etc.): In Summer 2023, the University of Idaho is planning in-person classes. Your first two Blocks are Fundamentals of Medical Science & Research and Infections & Immunity. Both will have a weekly exam on Monday mornings and a cumulative final exam on the final Friday of the block. Participation in all blocks, including Fundamentals of Medical Science & Research, is expected to be in person. Participation in Anatomy & Embryology (A&E) and Foundation of Clinical Skills is expected to be in-person across all sites. Assessments, including multiple-choice question exams and anatomical pin tests, will be given in person at UI. Absences/alternatives will require Foundation Dean’s approval but will be available where appropriate. 

A surge in COVID-19 may cause all courses to be moved to remote or hybrid instruction. 

Foundations of Clinical Medicine (FCM) Course: Idaho

Dustin Worth, DO | FCM & Colleges Director, Immersion Co-Director
Angela Scharnhorst, MD | Immersion Co-Director
Rayme Geidl, MD | PCP Director

The Foundations of Clinical Medicine (FCM) Course is a comprehensive clinical skills program with four integrated and complementary elements. It begins with the Immersion block (which introduces students to medical school and to clinical medicine), extends through the Foundations Phase, and culminates in the Transition to Clerkships block.

The four integrated elements of FCM are:

Immersion: FCM starts with intensive initial clinical skills training, including fundamentals of doctor-patient communication and medical interviewing, the content and structure of the comprehensive history and physical exam, and an introduction to professionalism and the culture of medicine. Immersion lasts two weeks.

Hospital Tutorials: Students work consistently with a faculty mentor and small group of peer students throughout their first 18 months. They have opportunities to practice the comprehensive history and physical examination with hospitalized patients and are observed by their faculty mentors who provide immediate formative feedback on their skills. During the second half of each tutorial morning, faculty mentors return to see each patient with the group of students, to demonstrate interviewing and exam techniques at the bedside. Students perform oral case presentations and complete written histories and physicals for each patient, which are also reviewed by the mentor. Students have their Hospital Tutorial morning on either Tuesday or Thursday of alternate weeks.

Clinical Skills Workshops: Students learn core communication, physical exam, clinical reasoning, reflection, and teamwork skills in hands-on, interactive small group sessions aligned with the content of the Foundations blocks. They also cover other areas relevant to patient care, including communication skills and interview techniques, behavioral medicine, chronic care, interprofessional healthcare and other areas. Students have Clinical Skills Workshops every other Wednesday afternoon in the weeks they do not have Hospital Tutorials.  Workshop timing is variable, and though they can start as early as 1:00 pm and end as late as 6:00 pm, the total time is never more than four hours.

Primary Care Practicum (PCP): Starting in January, students will work in the same primary care physician’s office for the majority of the Foundations Phase in a longitudinal experience emphasizing outpatient clinical skills, patient relationships and continuity, chronic care, and teamwork. In the clinic, students have the opportunity to apply many of the skills they learn in Clinical Skills Workshops and Hospital Tutorials. Students have their PCP on Tuesday afternoons, though some flexibility in scheduling is possible. Those with questions about scheduling should reach out to their local PCP administrator.

Students requesting a disability accommodation for FCM or any blocks/courses need to contact Disability Resource Services (DRS) directly by contacting UW DRS (uwdrs@uw.edu) or http://depts.washington.edu/uwdrs/ as soon as possible AND before the start of immersion so that appropriate accommodations can be made available in a timely fashion to allow the student to participate fully. This process can take between 2-6 weeks once your medical documentation has been submitted. Accommodations cannot be implemented until a DRS evaluation has been completed and appropriate accommodations are determined.

If students have any questions, they can also contact Dr. Maya Sardesai (sardesai@uw.edu), assistant dean for student development, or Sarah Wood (sewood@uw.edu), director for student affairs.

Contacts
Dustin Worth: dworth@uidaho.edu
Rayme Geidl: rgeidl@uidaho.edu
Angela Scharnhorst: ascharnh@uidaho.edu
Lynda Freeman: lmfreeman@uidaho.edu
Tyler Bland: tbland@uidaho@edu