During their third year, all students spend 18 to 20 weeks away from Charlottesville in affiliated clerkship locations. The electives program in the fourth year allows students to pursue some of their own interests. Under the guidance of a faculty advisor, students choose clinical rotations, basic science and humanities courses, and research activities. Clinical rotations are available at sites in Salem, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Fairfax and Charlottesville. Programs are tailored to meet individual interests and needs, including a selection of programs in other domestic and foreign settings, in appropriate community medicine programs, or in other activities of suitable educational merit.
Students also take their neurology clerkship in the fourth year.
The Curriculum Committee adapted a set of fundamental objectives for the undergraduate medical education based on findings of the 1998 University of Virginia School of Medicine Task Force on Medical School Objectives. These are presented in outline form. The ability to engage and involve any patient in a relationship for the purpose of clinical problem solving and care throughout the duration of the relationship, Eliciting a clinical history, Performing a physical examination, Generating and refining a prioritized differential diagnosis for a clinical finding or set of findings, Developing and refining a plan of care for both the prevention and treatment of illness and the relief of symptoms and suffering, Developing a prognosis for an individual, family or population based upon health risk or diagnosis, with and without intervention, and planning appropriate follow-up, Selecting and interpreting clinical tests for the purpose of health screening and prevention, diagnosis, prognosis or intervention, Organizing, recording, presenting, researching, critiquing and managing clinical information, Selecting and performing procedural skills related to physical examination, clinical testing and therapeutic intervention, and Knowledge of the social, economic, ethical, legal and historical context within which medicine is practiced. Special Programs Research Year Medical students may elect to extend their medical education to include a year of basic science or clinical research without an additional year's tuition. The student will prepare a research proposal reflecting the hypothesis for the project, methods, and a time schedule which must be approved by the student's research supervisory committee.