MS3 Student Workload

The Growth Year (third year) is a busy time for Dell Medical School students. The students will have their distinction or dual degree responsibilities in addition to the requirements below, which is viewed as the equivalence of a full-time workload. 

Dual Degree or Distinction

Dual Degree students are enrolled as full-time graduate students. Students will take a rigorous course load at an accelerated pace in order to complete as much degree progress in two semesters as possible.

Distinction students are expected to spend 40 hours a week between their distinction project, professional development related to their distinction project, and their Dell Med coursework.

United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1

Students are expected to complete Step 1 before their ILD experience begins. 

MS3 Intersessions

Intersessions take place four times in the third year (August, October, January, and March) on Fridays. Attendance is required for all third year medical students.

Primary Care, Family & Community Medicine Clerkship

The Primary Care, Family & Community Medicine Clerkship is a two-year, longitudinal clerkship that runs through the second and third years of medical school. 

During the MS3 year, students will attend their primary care clinic site once a week excluding intersession weeks and holidays. The specific day every week that the student attends clinic can be arranged with the preceptor.

Because students’ schedules vary during the MS3 year, there is some flexibility around the weekly clinic requirement, but all alternative schedules MUST meet the following criteria:

• The student attends clinic for a total of 28 clinic sessions or 112 hours over the year, AND
• The student attends clinic at least once every 4 weeks from September through May. For example, students have the option of attending clinic for a full day every other week or 2 full days every 4 weeks.
• The student requests the alternative schedule by email to the preceptor and the Clerkship Directors at least 6 weeks in advance.
• The preceptor and Clerkship Directors approve the alternative schedule.

Since this is the only required clinical experience in the MS3 year, the minimum frequency of every 4 weeks is required in order to maintain students' clinical skills and promote patient continuity. If students are required to be off-site for an academic reason (i.e. a global health research project) and feel that the above criteria represent an undue burden, you may request an exception via email. Note that LCME requires that all core clerkships be completed domestically, so remote precepting arrangements will not be permitted.

There is one objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) for the clerkship during the third year. It will take place over the course of three Saturdays in the month of November (students have the ability to choose which Saturday they wish to take the exam).

Interprofessional Education (IPE)

Building upon collaboration, communication, and leadership skills gained from first- and second-year course work, students will expand their sphere of interprofessional collaborative practice to address contemporary public health issues of our communities in Travis County. In teams of three to five, students will form an interprofessional team for participation in community service learning projects that address the health and wellness of communities and populations of Travis County.

Individual team members will be expected to contribute the following amount of time in direct effort in the community project, excluding time for intersessions and completion of written assignments and team products.

• Minimum of twenty (20) hours total, spread across the fall and spring semesters
• Minimum of five (5) hours in each semester
• In each semester, the team average of all members’ project hours should be about ten (10) hours.

Developing Outstanding Clinical Skills (DOCS)

In DOCS Year 3 (Systems), students will acquire a set of advanced clinical knowledge and skills necessary to master the clinical systems and environments that will be encountered during the 4th year sub-intern and elective rotations (i.e., evidence based physical diagnosis, bedside procedures, interprofessional communication and patient counseling). The bulk of the course will be delivered in May during a one-week intensive experience using simulation and hands-on practice modules in small group settings. The 25 hours of work is divided as follows:

• Two two-hour check-in sessions, one one-hour mentor meeting, and 20 hours spent in a one-week hands-on experience to transition to MS4
• Two evening meetings each semester scheduled at the discretion of the DOCS group (5 students)
• The one-week immersion in advanced clinical skills at the end of May

Leadership

The foundation of the third year Leadership course is service learning. This course will allow students to practice serving in leadership positions within the Dell Medical School community, with opportunities for feedback and reflection. The design of this course allows students to both practice and demonstrate their personal leadership philosophy in medical education and health systems. The required number of service hours for the year is no less than twenty (20). Students are responsible for scheduling and logging their own service hours over the course of the year via One45. While there are several different leadership service experiences, students must choose one service learning opportunity to pursue over the year and this opportunity must not be in conflict with their ILD program schedule.

United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 2: CS (Clinical Skills)

From April to May, each student must sign up for an 8-hour multi-station clinical skills assessment. Students should sign up for a time that works around their existing schedule. Travel to specially-designated sites is required and the student may be out of town for 2 days. Houston is the closest testing location at this time.  

Multi-station OSCE (CPX)

From April to May, each student must sign up for an 8-hour multi-station clinical skills assessment. The students should sign up for a time that works around their existing schedule.

Commitments Outside of Dell Med During Year 3

If, after reading the above, a student wishes to engage in other outside activities, they may do so as long as their distinction or dual degree work remains the priority and they remain in good academic standing. If their academic performance falls in any coursework, they will be strongly advised to eliminate any outside activities.