General Clerkship Tips
Preparedness & Professionalism
- Know when and where you are expected to be. Be there on time. If there is some unavoidable delay, contact the physician directly.
- Read about patients in advance, if possible. This is especially important in preparation for a surgery.
- When speaking with patients, use language that they can understand.
- When speaking with patients, be honest. If you don't really understand the medical situation or what the plan is, tell them you will discuss it with the physicians and return. be the patient's advocate--especially important on busy in-patient services, like Gyn-Onc.
- Try to have most of your oral presentation completed by the end of the third week of the rotation.
Attitude
- Be enthusiastic. Ask questions.
- Actively participate in patient care activities. Be present and helpful. Try not to get frustrated by "scut" work - this work is important and necessary to care for our patients. Your efforts will not go unnoticed!
- Befriend administrative staff and clinic staff- show respect for all members of the health care team.
Learning
- Try to spend time with patients. You can learn a great deal from just talking with your patients about their health and their lives. This is especially valuable when interacting with admitted patients. The patients also get so much out of the added time that you can spend with them.
- Seek out learning opportunities from other sources. For example, nurses on L&D are a great resource and can teach you so much about normal and abnormal labor, how to interpret a NST, etc. Social workers and medical consultants are also very valuable sources of additional learning.
Reading
- Read, read, read!! Carry around a small text (Hacker and Moore, Blueprints, etc). Make use of the down time during your day.
- Read about the given topic the day you see a patient with that specific condition. This will help "cement" it in your mind.
- Set a schedule for yourself to read all required topics by the end of the 5th week of the rotation.
Obstetrics Tips
Attitude
- Befriend the clinic staff and ask if they would be willing to page you for new patients and when your patient needs to be examined or is complete and ready to start pushing (remember, this is not their job, per se).
Initiative
- Ask your physician if you can interview and evaluate all triage patients.
- Introduce yourself to patients: "I am student-doctor Smith. I am working with Dr. White to take care of you today..."
- Speak with the physician in advance about your goal of doing as many pelvic exams as possible.
- Be assertive and vocal in your desire to actually do deliveries.
Learning
- Make a modified Friedman curve on all laboring patients that you are following.
- This will help you to understand at any moment the progress, or lack thereof, of your patient.
- Learn by sitting at the bedside of your laboring patient.
- Learn fetal monitoring by asking the nurses. Review NSTs of other patients, especially if they are abnormal.
Gynecology/Gynecologic Oncology Tips
Tips from a Faculty Perspective
Preparedness & Professionalism
- Review anatomy before the surgery.
- Be prepared to answer questions about blood supply to the pelvis, lymph node drainage of gyn organs, etc.
- Meet your surgical patient in the pre-op holding area, if possible. This is especially important in patients who will be admitted.
Attitude
- Help transport patients, if necessary (we all do this at times).
Initiative
- Take ownership of your admitted patients-see them throughout the day. Write notes on them (check with your physician). Gather vital signs, check labs and urine output and review nursing notes in the morning before rounds for your patient.
Reading
- Read about surgical patients the day before.
Tips from a Resident
You will be working with a fantastic group of residents (if we do say so ourselves!). If something doesn't seem to be working for you, speak up. Let us know what you want to learn, see, and do, and we will try to make it happen. What we expect in return is that you approach this rotation with enthusiasm, are willing to work as part of our team, and take responsibility for your educational experience.
There are 3 steps to this rotation:
1) OR
Whether or not you plan to be a surgeon, this is a good chance to get a look at all the pathology you will be seeing in clinic, and to remind yourself about the anatomy of the pelvis.
- Review Netter, pages 341 and 373 in particular. Things will make much more sense if you have a map of where you are.
- Ask your chief what surgery you will be scrubbing on and review the steps; it will help you be a better assistant.
- When you get to the OR, pull your gloves and give them to the scrub nurse. Ask if s/he needs another gown for you.
- Help move the patient, put on the bear-hugger, put in the Foley (ask the nurse if s/he will let you and show you how), shave the patient, put on the TEDs and SCDs--be as helpful as possible.
- Ask for the suture scissors when someone starts sewing. This will help demonstrate that you are paying attention.
- Always, always, be polite to the nurses.
- Ask questions.
2) Rounding
Our rounding is different from what you will do on a medicine or surgery service. We do not "pre-round" (i.e. have the intern or student go collect vitals and see the patient before the chief gets there). We round as a team, with one person examining the patient, one writing the note, and one writing orders. This makes it hard to find a job as a medical student, but there are a few things you can do:
- On the onc or benign service, ask to write the orders. This will help you figure out what exactly we do for patients on the post-op day one or two.
- On the benign or HMC gyn service, volunteer to pre-round. If you see the patient first, collect the vitals and make a plan-it is much more interesting and educational. Usually we have a small enough service that getting there early only means 7am instead of 7:14. We won't make you get up at 5am!
- During the day, check your patients' vitals on the computer and follow up on labs. If anything is abnormal think about what could be going on before you talk to your chief.
- Again, ask questions!
3) Clinic
Usually you will be seeing patients with the chief resident. You will go in first and get a basic history, do the preliminary parts of the physical (HEENT, heart, lungs, abdomen, neuro) and then present to the chief and go with them to do the pelvic exam.
- Try to make your history-taking concise and thorough--nearly impossible to do as an intern, let alone on your first rotation! Your chief may interrupt you or listen in to save time.
- Always create a differential. Some things may seem simple, but this exercise will help you catch the one or two times when it isn' straightforward (and it's good practice for your medicine rotation).
- Don't feel like you have to see every patient. After seeing one, take a little time to read about their problem, the treatment options, and the differential.
- Read. Read more. You will be able to ask better questions and take a better history when you know more about the potential problems.
- Ask questions!
Schedules
Academic Year 2024-2025
*Orientation = first Monday of rotation
**NBME Exam = last Friday of rotation
| Spring A | Spring B | |
|---|---|---|
| Orientation | Mar 25 | May 6 |
| Time Period | Mar 25 - May 3 | May 6 - Jun 14 |
| NBME Exam | May 3 | Jun 14 |
| Summer A | Summer B | |
|---|---|---|
| Orientation | Jun 24 | Aug 5 |
| Time Period | Jun 24 - Aug 2 | Aug 5 - Sep 13 |
| NBME Exam | Aug 2 | Sep 13 |
| Autumn A | Autumn B | |
|---|---|---|
| Orientation | Sep 16 | Oct 28 |
| Time Period | Sep 16 - Oct 25 | Oct 28 - Dec 6 |
| NBME Exam | Oct 25 | Dec 6 |
| Winter A | Winter B | |
|---|---|---|
| Orientation | Jan 6 | Feb 17 |
| Time Period | Jan 6 - Feb 14 | Feb 17 - Mar 28 |
| NBME Exam | Feb 14 | Mar 28 |
First Day Orientation
All students required to attend an in-person orientation will receive an email from the Clerkship Administrator with more details 6 weeks prior to the start of the rotation. Students are expected to report to their clerkship site after orientation.
We also offer a virtual orientation via Zoom to those unable to attend in Seattle. This orientation will be from 8:30 - 10:30 AM PST. The Clerkship Administrator will send the link to all students not attending in person by the Friday before the clerkship start date.
Site Schedules
During your site orientation and throughout the clerkship you will be given information about your site's schedule. On-call schedules vary based on site. Some information can be found on the individual faculty/site tab of this website. You can also contact your site coordinator in advance to determine that schedule.
Work hours will not be specifically logged unless you feel it is necessary because of a potential violation. If you are working close to the 80-hour limit, please document your hours for the week in question and present these hours to your site director as soon as possible. Your work schedule will be modified as appropriate. You will never be discriminated against for following the work hour policy. For more details about this policy, please refer to the Reference tab of this website.
You have a professional responsibility to adhere to scheduled assignments. It is basic courtesy and your professional responsibility to let the appropriate people know if you cannot be at an assigned place. If unforeseen events or double scheduling preclude your attendance at a scheduled activity, check with your preceptor or coordinator to resolve the conflict and to determine how to provide appropriate notification.
During clinical rotations, students will adhere to the schedules set forth by the site or clerkship director. There are no guaranteed holidays off. Please check with your specific site director about holidays, such as the day after Thanksgiving, to see if you will be permitted to have that day off. Do not assume that a University of Washington holiday applies to you.
Final Day of Clerkship
The electronic computer based NBME exam will be given on the last Friday of your rotation.
Final Day of Clerkship exam is now virtual, done on your own computer. Students will not be taking this test at a testing center or central location. Please follow all guidelines for ensuring you have appropriate software for this exam. Please reach out to the SOM with any questions regarding time, logistics, etc. Their email is: somtests@uw.edu.(see below website links)
All students are required to be in their seat and prepared to start the exam at the specified time noted on the testing site information website below. Students who are late will not be permitted to take the exam.
If you require special accommodations for any part of the clerkship, including your exam contact the Clerkship Administrator prior to the first day of the clerkship.
Preparation for your 3rd Year Clerkship
Wondering which clerkship site would be best for you? Need to know the clerkship requirements? Do you want to make sure you're at a site with OB/GYN or Family Medicine residents and don't know which sites those are? If you have any of these questions, or more, please contact obclerk@uw.edu.
Additionally, Dr. Alyssa Stephenson-Famy created this presentation for students preparing for their first rotation, and has OB/GYN specific tips.
If you still have questions, feel free to ask one or more of the following people:
Vicki Mendiratta, MD - Clerkship Director
Phone: 206-543-9796
Email: vmendira@uw.edu
Sarah Villarreal, MD - Assistant Professor, Assistant Clerkship Director
Phone: 206-668-6644
Email: sarvill@uw.edu
RaQuel Harwick - Clerkship Administrator
Phone: 206-543-3892
Email: obclerk@uw.edu
We're looking forward to meeting you in your third year!