Course master: Gregory Polites, MD (politesg@wusm.wustl.edu)
Block: 1-3
Teaching style: Lecture, small group discussions, practice sessions, various out-of-class activities Grading: standardized patient sessions, multiple choice exams
Passing: 70%
The best part of attending medical school is throwing on your fresh white coat, putting your fancy stethoscope around your neck and your clipboard in your giant pocket, and hitting up the hospital. If that sounds like your kind of class, then you’re going to love Practice of Medicine. As part of its curriculum, you learn all those doctor-y skills ranging from patient interviews to physical exams and you get to shadow doctors in the community. Don’t worry — there are plenty of chances to practice your skills on standardized patients (paid actors) and on your lovely classmates with a faculty mentor. You even get to visit a patient’s home to learn to appreciate how different people interpret disease and the health-care system. POM is definitely the class that makes you feel more and more like a physician-to-be as you continue to learn physical exam and patient-interaction skills.
— Jenny C., M1