Medical Education

Doctoring

The Doctoring program pairs first- and second-year-students with a community physician mentor to learn communication and clinical skills and to gain early exposure to patient care.

Breadcrumb

Doctoring

The Doctoring program pairs first- and second-year-students with a community physician mentor to learn communication and clinical skills and to gain early exposure to patient care.

Doctoring is a required 17-month, four-course program that combines instruction and assessment in both clinical skills and professional development. 

The Doctoring curriculum is comprised of classroom learning and early exposure to real patients and medical practice. Students attend small group sessions taught by medical (MD) and social and behavioral science (SBS) faculty. Together with standardized patients in a simulated exam room setting, faculty teach students basic clinical skills, including medical interviewing, history taking, and physical diagnosis, while emphasizing professional conduct.

Skills learned in the classroom are reinforced by clinical experiences in which students work alongside physician-mentors at a community-based practice for 14 half-days per year, observing doctor-patient interactions and applying the skills they will need as physicians. In addition, students are assigned an assisted living facility (ALF) resident in the community with whom they practice clinical skills.

Year 1 focuses on patients and doctors with an emphasis on working with healthcare teams. Students work with their physician-mentor on  developing medical interviewing and physical diagnosis skills with real patients.

  • Medical interviewing  
  • Motivational interviewing
  • Physical diagnosis
  • Oral case presentation
  • Written documentation skills
  • Professionalism/ethics
  • Culturally sensitive care
  • Assisted Living Facility (ALF) Curriculum: 5 half-day sessions during the year (2 visits in the fall and 3 in the spring). Individual students are matched with individual ALF residents for clinical skills practice.

Doctoring I and II

The goals and objectives of the mentor program in Year 2 focus on clinical skills practice in the context of a healthcare team. Students interact with patients at their Doctoring mentor site and complete case write-ups and field notes based on real clinical experiences.

  • Medical interviewing  
  • Physical diagnosis
  • Oral case presentation
  • Written documentation skills
  • Professionalism/ethics
  • Culturally sensitive care
  • Clinical reasoning

Doctoring III and IV