P3/DOCS

Patients, Physicians & Populations/
Development of Clinical Skills Block

p3 week

P3-1/ DOCS-1 (MSCI-5106)

The P3-1 course is delivered in three 1-week blocks throughout the MS1 year. During 2019-20, these weeks are August 5-9, October 21-25, and March 23-27.

Key MS1 themes include Introduction to the Profession of Medicine, Patients and Populations, Social Determinants of Health, and Professional Development.

P3-2/ DOCS-2 (MSCI-6109)

The P3-2 course is delivered in three 1-week blocks throughout the MS2 year. During 2019-20, these weeks are September 30-October 4, January 6-10, and March 9-13.

Key MS2 themes include Quality and Safety, Patients and Families, and Professional Development

P3 Goals

To prepare students to learn medicine at the bedside.
To help students gain the knowledge and skills necessary to understand and influence factors affecting the health of their patients.

Previous P3 Week Schedules & Innovations

P3 Objectives

By the end of P3, the student will be able to:

Demonstrate effective communications skills. Students will be able to use the following interviewing and communication skills – Establishing Rapport, Collaborative Language, Explicit Caring, Non-directed Facilitation, Silence, Active Listening, Open-ended Questioning, Restating and Summarization, Addressing Feelings with the Patient.
Demonstrate demeanor, speech and appearance consistent with professional and community standards. Demonstrate dedication to the highest ethical standards governing physician-patient relationships, including privacy, confidentiality, and the fiduciary role of the physician and health care system.
Demonstrate skills in self-assessment of personal learning needs and independent identification, analysis and synthesis of relevant information for purposes of lifelong learning, critical assessment of the medical literature, and evidence based medical practice.
Demonstrate sensitivity to the diverse factors affecting the health of patients, including: age, gender, sexual orientation, culture, income, geography and ethnicity. Demonstrate understanding of the diverse systemic, economic and societal factors impacting health status and access to health care. Demonstrate understanding of the physician's role as a patient advocate.

Development of Clinical Skills (DOCS)

The DOCS course is delivered longitudinally throughout the MS1 and MS2 academic year.

DOCS Objectives

By the end of DOCS, the students will be able to:

Demonstrate ability to gather and record a patient's history using the standardized format.
Demonstrate skills in basic physical examination.
Demonstrate skills in communicating medical information orally and in writing.
Demonstrate ability to communicate effectively with patients, fellow students, clinic staff and faculty.
Demonstrate professionalism in interactions with peers, standardized patients, SimLife Center staff, and faculty

The P3 experience and the DOCS experience are two tracks within one course (P3/DOCS); students receive one grade for the course. While P3 sessions are scheduled between (or before) basic sciences blocks, many DOCS experiences are scheduled concurrently with those blocks in order to ensure that all students have opportunity to develop clinical skills. Each P3 week may also contain DOCS activities or clinical encounters. Students must pass both P3 and DOCS to receive a grade of PASS in the course.

P3/DOCS Honors Project

To receive a grade of HONORS in P3/DOCS, students must pass all elements of P3 and DOCS and complete an Honors Project. Honors Project Objectives: 1) to identify community needs that affect health outcomes; 2) to perform research and data collection activities to assess the current status of community and population needs; 3) to gain skills working as a group; 4) to navigate the complexities of working with a community partner; 5) to present a project in a scholarly forum