A Successful Clinical Distinction Project includes the following components:
- Written approval from a faculty sponsor
- An approved rotation request form
- An approved contract of learning form
- A final evaluation form with your self evaluation and passing approval.
But Clinical Distinction is more than these four steps…. in many ways it is a journey…
You Are the Instructor and the Student for Clinical Distinction
In dreaming up your specialty track course ideas, you’re developing a curriculum for the Clinical Distinction course. Every teacher who develops a curriculum needs to:
Provide resources to allow the student to learn. These are the activities or work of the course.
The Core Competencies Describe What the Student Should Learn
The seven core competencies of osteopathic medical education are described in detail in the AACOM’s publication, Core Competencies for Medical Students. You can read about TUCOM’s Structural Competency here. Often students just pick the Competency that sounds right. The more you understand the competency, the better your chance at success. Take a few minutes to look at the document and make sure the choice is right.
Your choice of learning outcomes are a key component of a successful specialty track course. It doesn’t really matter what you do. What matters is that you are able to demonstrate your progress towards achieving your learning outcomes. No matter how often we say this, students still think the activities are the most important part of the course. But your future residency director expects you to have explored the field. What sets you apart from other candidates is this demonstration of self-evaluation and self-directed growth.
Learn more about Learning Outcomes here
Assessment Tools: How you Will Know the Student has Reached the Outcomes
Once you have decided what your outcomes are, you need to figure out how you are going to determine if you’ve reached those outcomes. All students complete a narrative evaluation that describes the process, any obstacles encountered, and a self-evaluation. This is one assessment tool.
The Resources the Student Needs to Reach the Learning Outcomes:
Most students have an idea what activities they want to do before they even know exactly what Clinical Distinction is. But it’s important to determine if your activities will allow you to meet your goals or not!