Courses

BU School of Medicine (BUSM) Required Courses and Clerkships

Note: Only students in the MD program can take these courses.

For information on electives for BUSM students, please refer to the BUSM Registrar’s webpage

More courses are offered by the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences, including: Anatomy & Neurobiology • Behavioral Neuroscience • Biochemistry • Bioimaging • Biomedical Forensics • Cell & Molecular Biology • Clinical Investigation • Forensic Anthropology • Foundations Curriculum • Genetic Counseling • Genetics & Genomics • Healthcare Emergency Management • Medical Anthropology & Cross Cultural Practice • Medical Nutrition Sciences • Medical Sciences • Mental Health Counseling & Behavioral Medicine • Microbiology • Molecular Medicine • Oral Biology • Oral Health Sciences • Pathology & Laboratory Medicine • Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics • Physiology & Biophysics

• MED MS 312: Obstetrics and Gynecology Clerkship (6 weeks)
  Obstetrics and Gynecology Clerkship (6 weeks) offers instruction in the knowledge and skills specific to the reproductive health maintenance and disorders of women. Emphasis is placed on the doctor patient relationship, interviewing skills, appropriate physical exams, and clinical problem solving and patient safety principles in caring for patients. Instruction sites integrate both ambulatory and hospital based experiences including the labor floor and operating room. Student didactics are case based including procedure and skills based simulations.
• MED MS 313: Pediatric Clerkship (6 weeks)
  The world of children is a unique and challenging place. During the Pediatric Clerkship, students at Boston Medical Center will spend time on the inpatient service, have experiences in the outpatient clinics and emergency room, go to specialty clinics, the newborn nursery, and the NICU or PICU. Students rotating at one of the six other clerkship sites will experience clinical pediatrics while rotating on similar pediatric services. During this busy clerkship, we expect students will learn a lot about the care of children and their special needs.
• MED MS 314: MED MS 314: Psychiatry Clerkship (6 weeks)
  During the Psychiatry Clerkship, medical students have the opportunity to see and interview patients who are suffering from many different types of mental health disorders. In a weekly three hour Wednesday afternoon seminar, students are taught about general topics in psychiatry such as personality disorders, schizophrenia, child mental disorders, and substance abuse. Medical students will learn how to diagnose various mental health disorders and will gain a greater understanding of evidence-based treatments for these disorders.
• MED MS 315: Family Medicine Clerkship (6 weeks)
  In the Family Medicine Clerkship, students work in high volume ambulatory care practices of family physicians and residency programs. In the course of the clerkship students learn: to understand and promote a patient-centered model of care; to understand Family Medicine approaches to seeing and evaluating patients and families with undifferentiated problems, and the clinical reasoning that guides the definition and diagnosis of such problems; skill in the diagnosis and management of frequently occurring acute and chronic problems; to understand the patient as part of a family and community; to understand and use a comprehensive and continuous approach to care; to understand and use techniques of evidence based preventive medicine and health promotion.
• MED MS 316: Neurology Clerkship (4 weeks)
  Students at Boston University School of Medicine are required to participate in a 4 week Neurology Clerkship in the third year. The goal of the Clerkship is to teach students how a neurologist thinks about disease. The major goal of the clerkship is to gain a solid foundation in the neurological history and examination and the interpretation and significance of neurological examination findings. Much attention is devoted to clinical-anatomical correlation and refining the skills of "lesion localization." Students spend their clinical time in both the in-patient/consultation service and the outpatient clinics. Students are expected to spend most of their time on the adult services, but there is also opportunity to spend time with the Pediatric Neurology group. There are weekly didactic sessions with a senior faculty member that concentrate on clinical problem solving. Clinically relevant reading material and the cases to be discussed in the didactic sessions are provided on the clerkship's BlackBoard site. Students are integrated into the daily resident schedule of special seminars and teaching conferences.
• MED MS 404: Surgery Subspec
  
• MED MS 410: Geriatrics Clerkship (4 weeks)
  This clerkship teaches students basic geriatrics knowledge and skills to recognize and manage common geriatrics issues, such as dementia, delirium, falls, incontinence and pressure ulcers. The students learn the presentation and management of common geriatric syndromes, practice interviewing and examining patient with multiple disabilities and demonstrate the use of common geriatrics screening tools. They participate in a multidisciplinary approach to the care of the frail elderly in the community and in nursing homes, learning about community resources and the role of the various team members. Students work under the direct supervision of geriatric Attending and Nurse practitioners in the clinic, home care and nursing home settings. The students are expected demonstrate independent learning with evidence based paper and on independent home visits.
• MED MS 412: Radiology Clerkship (4 weeks)
  In the Radiology Clerkship there is an overview of diagnostic imaging with emphasis on multiple imaging modalities and the development of a systematic approach to image interpretation. Significant emphasis is also placed on image-guided diagnosis and treatment, the interpretation of radiologic reports, and evidence-based imaging.

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