Clinical Rotations

Clinical rotations are scheduled in both academic and private practice hospitals, including hospitals in metropolitan Savannah, and out-of-town hospitals in Georgia and other states, during senior year. Rotations are designed to provide students with real-world experience prior to graduation.

Introductory Clinical Activity
During the first four quarters of the program, students develop knowledge and skills in patient interviewing and physical examination; vascular access; and basic airway management. Clinical activity is interspersed with classroom and laboratory work on a day-to-day basis. Students will be in the operating room for two or three days per week from 0600 to 1200, and 4th quarter they are in the OR until 3pm. The knowledge and skills defined for each quarter in the clinical handbook must be mastered before the student may advance to intermediate clinical activity. Rotations in this phase of clinical studies are limited to sites in Savannah and are one academic quarter in duration. Students will be assigned to a single clinical site for an academic quarter and then rotated to another site the following quarter.

Intermediate Clinical Activity
The fifth academic quarter contains intermediate clinical activity interspersed with classroom and laboratory work. Students are assigned to clinical sites in Savannah for two or three days with a mix of partial or full days during each week. Knowledge and skills must be demonstrated at an intermediate level before the student may advance to senior clinical rotations. Students will be assigned to a single clinical site for this phase of their training.

General Senior Clinical Rotations
During the clinical year (final 12 months of the program), clinical rotations are assigned in three and four-week blocks, depending upon the particular rotation. Clinical rotations include all subspecialty areas of anesthesia practice (general surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, otolaryngology, orthopedics, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, genito-urinary surgery, vascular surgery, cardiac surgery, thoracic surgery, transplantation, trauma, ambulatory). Not all rotations outside Savannah provide housing for students; it is the responsibility of the student to make their own housing arrangements. AHEC may provide housing for certain Georgia rotations.

Remedial Clinical Assignments
Students who are having difficulty mastering clinical skills and concepts during the first five academic quarters may be required to enter the intensive clinical phase where students participate in clinical assignments every day. The additional clinical time permits students whose clinical acumen is less than preceptor expectations, as determined by daily clinical evaluations, to gain additional experience and improve their confidence.

The increased clinical workload does not alter the classroom or laboratory workload that all students carry. Students participating in intensive clinical have an increased workload. The intensive clinical experience is not punitive, but rather an opportunity for the student to rapidly improve their clinical competence and reach the level of their peers.

An alternative to intensive clinical is for the student to enter a decelerated program, taking fewer credit hours for one or more quarters. A decelerated program permits students who are having difficulty to take a decreased academic and/or clinical load and repeat particular courses as needed. Depending upon which quarter a student enters a decelerated program, the length of the Program may be extended from one to several academic quarters as required to successfully complete all required coursework.