Integrated clinical experience: University of Nebraska Medical Center

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Primary Care
• Behavioral Science in Medicine

Background:

• The Integrated Clinical Experience (ICE) is a mandatory two-year course for first- and second-year medical students.
• It aims to provide early clinical exposure in primary care settings and instruction in the social, behavioral, and ethical aspects of medicine.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the goals, format, topics, and evaluation methods of the ICE course.
• To outline the underlying assumptions of the ICE program, including medicine as an applied behavioral science and the importance of critical reflection.
• To identify and discuss challenges encountered during the implementation of the ICE course.

Main Methods:

• Descriptive analysis of the Integrated Clinical Experience (ICE) course structure and content.
• Identification and discussion of implementation challenges, including student and faculty feedback.
• Exploration of curriculum integration strategies to bridge biomedical and psychosocial dimensions.

Main Results:

• The ICE course integrates early clinical experiences with social, behavioral, and ethical foundations of medicine.
• Implementation challenges included student dissatisfaction with certain topics, resistance to reflection, and grading concerns.
• Faculty concerns involved curriculum time reduction, recruitment difficulties, and potential reinforcement of the biomedical/psychosocial divide.

Conclusions:

• The ICE program aims to foster interest in primary care careers by emphasizing medicine as a behavioral science and promoting critical reflection.
• Addressing student and faculty concerns, alongside improving curriculum integration, is crucial for the program's success.
• Ongoing efforts focus on better integrating the biomedical and psychosocial aspects of medical education within the ICE framework.