SPOKANE, Wash. – Starting June 24, patients and community members across the state will see some new faces in white coats as the inaugural class of medical students from the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine begin their clinical training as third‑year medical students.
The third‑year clinical training, called the Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC), is a unique feature of the College of Medicine’s curriculum that focuses on giving students experience in the comprehensive clinical care of patients. The WSU College of Medicine is one of the first in the country to employ the LIC model for all third‑year medical students.
Unlike traditional clerkships that focus on certain areas of medicine such as OB/GYN, pediatrics, and psychiatry for just a couple months each, the LIC integrates students with clinical faculty and patients over a 10‑month time span and across all major medical disciplines simultaneously. This enables them to form relationships with patients and doctors, gain experience over time and across specialties, and see many of the same patients over several months to get a complete picture of treatment.
“Launching the longitudinal integrated clerkship is a major milestone for us as a medical school and reinforces our focus on providing a community‑based education that prepares our students to serve the communities of Washington,” said Dr. Jaime Bowman, clerkship director at the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. “The clerkship years are an exciting time for our medical students and for our state as our citizens get to play an active role in building relationships with our students and shaping them into the doctors they will become.”
Approximately 15 third‑year medical students are based at each of the College of Medicine’s four clinical campus locations: Everett, Spokane, Tri‑Cities and Vancouver. Students are assigned to doctors in those communities whom they work alongside. Patients seen by those doctors or in participating clinics or hospitals are invited to take part in the medical students’ training. Participation is voluntary and may be discontinued at any time.
Media contact:
- Christina VerHeul, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, 509‑368‑6850, christina.verheul@wsu.edu
