Clinical Experience
Patient Care and Interaction
During medical school, the transition from classroom to clinical rotations means students begin to care for patients. They receive hands-on training, learn from practiced physicians and work directly with patients. Plus, clinical rotations give students a breadth of real-world knowledge and help them experience and consider potential career paths.
Rotations are completed at hospitals and clinics affiliated with Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) during a medical student’s third and fourth years. Partnerships vary across each campus and offer a wide variety of experiences, specialties and opportunities.
During clinical rotations, students assist residents in a particular specialty such as surgery, pediatrics, internal medicine or psychiatry. Responsibilities also include interacting with patients and performing basic medical procedures along with any tasks the resident assigns them.
The length of time spent in a rotation depends on the affiliate’s focus or strength. Students can expect increased experience with family medicine, trauma and internal medicine, as well as exposure to a diverse patient population.
Ideally, we will work to connect an interdisciplinary group of physician, nurses,
pharmacists, therapists, nurse aides and students with caregivers in the field, and
broaden the conversation.
John Culberson, M.D.
UMC Bernhard T. Mittemeyer, M.D., Endowed Chair in Geriatric Medicine and Associate Professor in the School of Medicine Department of Family and Community Medicine
Covenant Branch
The TTUHSC School of Medicine Covenant Branch is a joint venture between TTUHSC School of Medicine and Covenant Health System and Covenant Medical Group. It is an alternate training site for students staying in the Lubbock area, but wishing to experience community-based medicine.
Covenant Health System encompasses six locations, including Lubbock’s only Children’s Hospital with a fully dedicated Children’s Emergency Department. Covenant Branch students will have a truly hands-on, one-on-one experience with Covenant Health System physicians as well as private practitioners.
Covenant Women’s and Children’s Hospital is the only licensed, full-service pediatric hospital in the region, and one of only eight in the entire state. While rotating at this facility, students will experience valuable training during in-patient, newborn nursery, and Emergency Center shifts. Students also will work alongside laborists and nurse practitioners to help provide healthcare to OB/GYN patients.
