Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Required Courses

• MED MD 513: Pediatric Surgery
  This elective on the Pediatric Surgical Service will provide a broad experience in the evaluation and operative management of a wide range of surgical disorders of infants and children (abdominal, thoracic, genital, transplant, trauma, endocrine). It is geared toward those with an interest in surgery, pediatrics, or both. The student's time is split between the BMC and BCH campuses. This will allow the student to see two different practice settings at two different institutions. The BMC experience is heavily weighted towards a busy outpatient elective surgery experience, including pediatric urology, with some inpatient emergency surgery of common pediatric surgical conditions such as appendicitis, pyloric stenosis, incarcerated hernias, and intussusception. Elective operative cases are held at BMC on Mondays and Pediatric General Surgery Clinic is held at BMC on Tuesdays. Wednesdays through Fridays are then spent at Children's in the ORs, clinics, and rounding on the floors. During the clinics, children who are seen for surgical conditions are discussed and scheduled for surgery; follow-up is provided for those who have recently undergone surgery. At Children's, the medical student will be part of a large team, including interns, residents, fellows, nurse practitioners and faculty, that provides general and specialized surgical services to infants, children, and adolescents presenting with a wide range of congenital and acquired conditions. The students' activities include patient evaluation, assisting in the operating room, and participating in teaching conferences and rounds. An MASensive number of conferences are held per week including grand rounds, morbidity and mortality, vascular anomalies, fetal surgery, oncology, clinical teaching rounds and several didactic lectures. Students will be exposed to and may participate in multidisciplinary patient care programs of the Department of Surgery which include: trauma, surgical critical care including MASracorporeal membrane oxygenation, vascular malformations, solid organ transplantation, fetal surgery and minimally invasive surgery. The medical student will receive teaching and supervision on the wards, in the operating room and in the pediatric emergency room. The student will assist in the operating room depending on his/her technical skills, and may be permitted to first assist or perform minor procedures with the attending. During your rotation, the fellows may assign you a case to present at Professor Rounds with Dr. Robert Shamberger, Chief of Surgery and Dr. Craig Lillehei. The purpose of this is for you to practice presenting an "unknown" to an audience while leading them through an initial presentation, differential diagnosis, lab tests, etc. Wednesday through Friday, students are encouraged to join morning sign out and rounds with the team. Morning Sign Out with the entire team starts early at 5:45am and is led by the Pediatric Surgery Chief Fellow, and all senior residents, nurs
• MED MD 514: Sub-Internship: Pediatric Emergency Medicine
  This sub-internship in pediatric emergency medicine will provide students with experience in the direct evaluation and management of pediatric patients, ages 0-21yrs. The rotation will focus on clinical problem solving, and will emphasize skills in the differential diagnosis and treatment of acutely ill children. There is no mandatory overnight call, but students may elect to have some weekend shifts in addition to weekday shifts to complete the required complement of shifts during the rotation. Approximately half of your shifts will be during the evening hours of 3-10 pm. During a 4-week block there are 19 required shifts and during the 3-week block (block 14) there are 16 required shifts irrespective of excused absences for residency interviews. Attendance at the Department of Pediatrics conferences and twice monthly resident conferences is encouraged. At the end of their rotation, students will be required to present a case-based evidence based medicine session to evaluate their ability to interpret and incorporate the medical literature into their practice.
• MED MD 515: Pediatric Complex Care
  Pediatric Complex Care
• MED MD 516: Caring for Pediatric Patients with Disabilities
  Current estimates place the number of children with disabilities at 1 in 6, with this proportion rising to upwards of 1 in 4 in adulthood and 3 in 4 by the time a patient is considered geriatric. Nonetheless, a recent national survey found that only 40% of physicians were very confident about their ability to provide quality care to patients with a disability, and only 56% strongly agreed that they welcome disabled patients into their practice. Several groups of advocates have developed practice guidelines to help address this bias both in medical education and in direct patient care. The goal of this elective is to increase medical students’ respect for and awareness of patients with disabilities across numerous specialties and to support them in understanding the complexity of care for individuals with disabilities across the lifespan.
• MED MD 520: Acute Psychiatry in Managed Care
  Bournewood Hospital, a private psychiatric hospital in the community, is a core adult inpatient training site for the residency program. This elective provides students with the opportunity to learn acute inpatient psychiatry, including patient evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment in a multidisciplinary setting. Students will learn about psychopharmacology and short-term psychotherapy management of patients with psychiatric disorders. Many patients are enrolled in managed care programs allowing students to also learn about systems of care, managed care approaches to psychiatric and substance use disorders.
• MED MD 521: Adolescent Psychiatry
  Bournewood Hospital, a private psychiatric hospital in the community, is a core inpatient adolescent training site for the residency program. This elective is an excellent opportunity to work with adolescents with psychiatric and dual diagnosis disorders in a managed care environment. Students will be members of a multidisciplinary team learning about psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, family therapy, and other treatment modalities. Students will learn about systems of care and the interface between social and educational services for adolescents.
• MED MD 524: Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry
  This four week elective in Psychosomatic Medicine with Dr. Wilensky is a core training site for the residency program and the psychosomatic fellowship program. This course offers a consultation-liaison experience, with a focus on clinical work designed to enhance student's ability to understand and appreciate the psychosocial aspects of medical illness. Emphasis will be placed on the development of interviewing techniques and differential diagnostic styles and increased responsibility for the development of brief treatment strategies. Interested students may choose to focus their clinical work in a particular area of the hospital or with a specific service. In addition, the student will be required to do research in an area of interest involving psychosomatic medicine with the development of a paper and presentation to members of the Psychosomatic Medicine team at the end of the rotation. This course is not intended solely for those interested in psychiatry as a specialty, but especially for those interested in the areas of general medicine and primary care.
• MED MD 525: Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry - VABHC West Roxbury
  Under close supervision, students in this elective will work as integral members of the consultation-liaison psychiatry service at the VA Boston Healthcare System, West Roxbury Campus. Students will evaluate and treat patients in the emergency room and acute medical setting for whom psychiatry consultation is requested. Common consultation requests include suicidality, substance intoxication or withdrawal, psychosis, delirium, depression, and capacity to make medical decisions. Students will work closely with attending psychiatrists as well as psychiatry residents, consultation-liaison psychiatry fellows, and addictions psychiatry fellows. Students will participate in daily teaching rounds and will receive additional teaching through formal didactic sessions. Students will receive individual supervision both at the bedside and in formal sessions. Students will carry up to four patients at any given time and will actively participate in daily patient care. Duty hours will be Monday through Friday, without night or weekend requirements. In addition to daily patient care, students will complete two brief, informal presentations on clinical questions related to their patients, as well as a thirty-minute formal presentation at the end of the rotation on a topic relevant to consultation-liaison psychiatry. The elective will expose students to a wide variety of psychiatric diagnoses, with a focus on how psychiatric issues interact with acute medical illness. By the end of the elective, students will show a nuanced understanding of how to perform a psychiatric consultation in the emergency room or acute medical setting and how psychiatric and medical issues affect one another, along with advanced skill in patient interviewing, oral presentations, and clinical documentation.
• MED MD 526: Outpatient Psychiatry
  Outpatient Psychiatry is a 4-week clinical elective. Students will have the opportunity to work closely with faculty who have expertise in collaborative care, severe psychosis, HIV psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, refugee mental health, adult psychiatry, child/adolescent psychiatry, and women's mental health. There will be an opportunity to rotate through Healthcare for the Homeless as part of their HIV psychiatry experience. Students will have the opportunity to improve their knowledge of psychopharmacology and brief psychotherapy, as well as participate in patient evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and management of side effects.
• MED MD 528: Inpatient Psychiatric Management
  Inpatient Psychiatric Management
• MED MD 529: Emergency Psychiatry and Crisis Intervention
  This elective is for the BU medical student to actively engage in and learn more about emergency psychiatric care and crisis intervention. Students will improve their understanding of the mental health system and resources for patients who are experiencing psychiatric emergencies and crises. This elective provides an opportunity for the student to clinically manage patients presenting for acute psychiatric care and to experience some of the changes that are being made to the field of community crisis intervention to improve health equity in accessing high-quality psychiatric care. Students will learn about the range of services and resources that are available to support the acute psychiatric needs of patients, from the level of the Emergency Department to community focused interventions, with a particular focus on services for patients experiencing significant psychosocial stressors and health inequities. This elective takes place in the Emergency Department at Boston Medical Center and associated community crises centers. Students will work approximately three 10-hour shifts a week in the Psychiatric Emergency Department and two 8-hour shifts in associated community sites, all under the supervision of psychiatry attendings. In addition, students will work closely with psychiatry residents and social work staff. Students will have opportunities to interview patients, obtain collateral information, participate in disposition determinations, complete safety assessments, develop treatment plans, and write notes for the patients they treat in the Emergency Department and crisis intervention settings. Teaching will occur on a case-by-case basis. By the end of the rotation, students will have developed skills in managing acute agitation, utilizing verbal de-escalation techniques for patients in crisis, conducting in-depth suicide assessments, assessing patients with altered mental status, recognizing and treating emergent psychiatric conditions, and assessing psychiatric disposition needs. In addition to the three days per week managing patients in the Psychiatric Emergency Department, students will have the opportunity to spend two days each week working in select associated psychiatric crisis settings. Students will be able to select among sites including, the BMC Community Behavioral Health Center (CBHC), the Community Crisis Stabilization (CCS) unit at the Solomon Carter Fuller Building, Faster Paths, the ED Addiction Service, the Addiction Psychiatry Treatment Program (APTP), the Mobile Crisis Team, the Mental Health Court team, the Wellness and Recovery After Psychosis (WRAP) Program, and the Multi Visit Patient Program (MVPP). This elective will allow students to gain a better understanding of the full continuum of care and understanding of alternative levels of care for acute psychiatric crises.
• MED MD 530: Radiology Core
  Required Boston University course: The Department of Radiology offers a clinical 4-week rotation based at Boston Medical Center. The course is comprised of didactic lectures, departmental conferences, small group sessions on evidence-based imaging, case review sessions, and clinical observations in general radiology, pediatric imaging, musculoskeletal imaging, neuroradiology, abdominal and pelvic imaging, thoracic imaging, breast imaging and nuclear imaging. The course culminates in a student-facilitated departmental radiology-pathology correlation conference.
• MED MD 531: Radiation Oncology
  This elective is designed to provide an introduction to radiation oncology in the management of patients with cancer. Students will participate in the evaluation, radiation treatment planning, treatment evaluation and follow-up of patients with cancer. The role of radiation oncology in the multi-modality management of patients with cancer will be emphasized.
• MED MD 532: Interventional Radiology Elective
  The Interventional Radiology (IR) Elective is for the BUSM student to gain an immersive experience in IR. The student will be a fully-functioning member of the Interventional Radiology team. This rotation is designed for fourth-year students who have completed the Radiology Selective or Core Elective. Students will build on fundamental knowledge obtained in the radiology Selective as well as draw upon clinical skills developed in other third-year rotations such as Internal Medicine and Surgery. Students will be exposed to a variety of procedures that treat disease processes from nearly every organ system. This is meant to be hands-on rotation modeled after a surgical sub-internship, and will include responsibilities such as seeing consults, rounding on inpatients, and writing H&Ps and post-procedure notes. Students will be gradually given autonomy until they can function as an independent team member and handle a small patient load (2-3 patients). The elective takes place in the Department of Radiology at Boston University Medical Center. The student will identify an attending radiologist with whom they plan to spend the majority of their elective time with as their mentor. This radiology attending will also be responsible for completing the student's evaluation at the end of the elective rotation. Students will interact with patients, radiology technologists, residents, fellows and attendings. Through required readings within each subspecialty, students will focus on studying on the subspecialty-specific Required Diagnoses that are assigned to each subspecialty within the Radiology elective.
• MED MD 533: Radiology Education Elective-Non-Clinical
  The 4-week Radiology Education Elective provides a fourth-year student with an opportunity to collaborate with Dr. Mikhail Higgins on various Radiology education projects as well as providing guidance on Radiology as a career choice. As part of an ongoing focus on exposing medical students to Radiology at an early stage of training, students have been involved in various projects such as the collaboration and development of an interactive anatomy website for physician assistant training programs. Fourth-year elective students have also been collaborating with Dr. Higgins in the development of a website for teaching breast imaging concepts at the medical student level. Currently, students are working with Radiology residents to input cases into the website and, in the future, students will provide feedback on design and content elements. As a result of the wide exposure BU medical students receive to Radiology early in their training, BUSM has continued to have a high rate of interest in Radiology as a career. Each student is expected to follow the Radiology Elective daily schedule which will be distributed and available on Blackboard. Each student will meet with Dr. Higgins, the Radiology education mentor, to review the weekly milestones. The student is expected to research the content area for an educational project and give a final presentation (e.g., lecture/seminar/workshop, small group facilitation, instructional materials, online presentation, and/or medical education manuscript abstract proposed for publication). In addition, the Radiology Education elective student will take the final exam by the end of the elective to receive credit and a grade. The Radiology Education elective takes place in the Department of Radiology at Boston University Medical Center. Elective students are expected to follow the Radiology Elective daily schedule which will be distributed and available on Blackboard. The location for the educational elective is within the Breast Imaging area alongside mentor, Dr. Higgins. However, if there is another area of interest within Radiology, elective students may work within that area but focusing on instructions from Dr. Higgins.
• MED MD 534: Radiology Research Elective
  The Radiology Research Elective is for the BU Medical student to gain experience with the initiation and completion of a clinical and/or basic science research project. After completion of this elective, the student will gain an understanding of the process of research and the completion of these projects. The student will join a supervising Radiology faculty mentor for a research project that is organized prior to the start of the elective and approved by the elective subcommittee of the medical school. The student will work as a member of the team with the principal investigator and/or other junior investigators. The student will spend his/her time performing some or all of the study research, study development, IRB submission, study planning and data collection, data analysis, and study write up. A thorough written summary of the student's progress and/or accomplishments will also be performed. The student will also attend various conferences focused on the findings of the various radiologic cases. Emphasis is placed on developing skill in performance of research techniques, with particular focus on development of research ideas, IRB creation and submission, data collection and analysis, and manuscript creation. Students are expected to participate in all research activities Monday through Friday.
• MED MD 535: Body Imaging
  The Radiology Elective is for the BUSM student to gain a deeper experience in a limited number of areas in radiology, based on their particular interests. This could include a variety of imaging modalities such as general radiology, CT, MRI, or ultrasound. Elective students will build upon the fundamental knowledge obtained in the general radiology Selective to better understand radiology's role in the care of patients and to practice with image and radiologic report interpretation in their selected areas. In addition, elective students will become familiar with radiologic study selection to best answer specific clinical questions and imaging study acquisition from both the technical and patient perspectives. Course Electives include: Neuroradiology, Pediatric Radiology, Body Imaging, Breast Imaging, Musculoskeletal Imaging The elective takes place in the Department of Radiology at Boston University Medical Center. At the beginning of the elective, the student will identify an attending radiologist with whom they plan to spend the majority of their elective time with as their mentor. This radiology attending will also be responsible for completing the student's evaluation at the end of the elective rotation. Elective students are expected to follow the Radiology Elective daily schedule which will be distributed and available on Blackboard. Through clinical observation in the imaging suites and radiology reading room, elective students will interact with patients, radiology technologists, residents, fellows and attending. Through required readings within each subspecialty, students will focus on studying on the subspecialty-specific Required Diagnoses that are assigned to each subspecialty within the Radiology elective.
• MED MD 536: Breast Imaging
  The Radiology Elective is for the BUSM student to gain a deeper experience in a limited number of areas in radiology, based on their particular interests. This could include a variety of imaging modalities such as general radiology, CT, MRI, or ultrasound. Elective students will build upon the fundamental knowledge obtained in the general radiology Selective to better understand radiology's role in the care of patients and to practice with image and radiologic report interpretation in their selected areas. In addition, elective students will become familiar with radiologic study selection to best answer specific clinical questions and imaging study acquisition from both the technical and patient perspectives. Course Electives include: Neuroradiology, Pediatric Radiology, Body Imaging, Breast Imaging, Musculoskeletal Imaging The elective takes place in the Department of Radiology at Boston University Medical Center. At the beginning of the elective, the student will identify an attending radiologist with whom they plan to spend the majority of their elective time with as their mentor. This radiology attending will also be responsible for completing the student's evaluation at the end of the elective rotation. Elective students are expected to follow the Radiology Elective daily schedule which will be distributed and available on Blackboard. Through clinical observation in the imaging suites and radiology reading room, elective students will interact with patients, radiology technologists, residents, fellows and attending. Through required readings within each subspecialty, students will focus on studying on the subspecialty-specific Required Diagnoses that are assigned to each subspecialty within the Radiology elective.
• MED MD 537: Musculoskeletal Imaging
  
• MED MD 545: Medical Care of the Surgical Patient
  The elective is designed to provide an opportunity for the student interested in a surgical or medical career to gain experience in the management of medical problems in the surgical patient. Students spend one month on the Medical Consult Service and work under the direct supervision of two senior medical residents and the medical attending. He/she will actively participate in completing inpatient consultations including generation of management plans, daily work rounds and twice a week didactic sessions. The student is expected to work Monday through Friday, 8 am to 6 pm. There is no overnight call. The student will also participate in two half-day sessions per week in the Pre-Procedure Clinic, located in Shapiro Lower Level, where patients scheduled for elective surgery are assessed by providers from both Surgery and Anesthesia departments. Students considering surgery including orthopedics, anesthesia, or internal medicine careers have found this elective valuable. The interactions of medical and surgical illness are complex and may complicate management in the perioperative period. Many questions commonly arise. What are the risks of surgery and general anesthesia in patients with a given set of medical illnesses' What are the predictors of these risks' Can they be reduced by preoperative measures' How should medical problems be managed before and after surgery' What complications might be expected' It is hoped at the conclusion of this elective, the student will have an appreciation of how medical problems in the perioperative period should be approached diagnostically and therapeutically. The Medicine Consult service is also the primary care team for patients admitted to Boston Medical Center with acute hip fractures, as the patients have many medical comorbidities that make their preoperative and postoperative management challenging. Students should contact the Medicine Consult service director, Dr. Henry Trier, via email (Henry.Trier@bmc.org) in the week prior to starting service for more information as well as link to educational supplemental materials. A core syllabus of articles from the medical, surgical and obstetrical literature relevant to medical consultation is available and should be picked up from the coordinator one week prior to beginning the rotation.