Courses

The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular term. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the MyBU Student Portal for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.

BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Required Courses

• MED MD 583: Latino Health Elective
  The Latino Health Elective is an opportunity for fourth year medical students to improve their ability to provide medical care in Spanish, to increase their understanding of Latino health issues and disparities, and to research a topic of relevance to the health of Latino communities. The elective experience will take place at East Boston Neighborhood Health Center (EBNHC), Boston Medical Center, and Boston area community agencies. Students will participate in clinical sessions in Family Medicine and Chronic Disease Management at EBNHC. Specialty clinical sessions will take place at BMC. Students will be responsible for conducting history and physical examinations in Spanish and presenting their findings in standard oral presentation format in English. At community agencies, students will learn about outreach to the Latino community around issues of immigration, housing, education, and more. Latino elder care will be explored with an adult day health program. Selected readings will be provided to students to expand their knowledge of Latino communities in the United States and health disparities facing Latinos. These readings will be reviewed independently and discussed with the course director. During the four week rotation the student will select a topic of interest relevant to the Latino community and prepare an oral presentation to be shared in the final week. Students will be evaluated on the basis of their participation in clinical sessions and engagement with community agencies and independent readings. The final presentation will be evaluated on the basis of relevance to Latino health and skills in oral presentation.
• MED MD 584: Primary Care at BU Student Health Service
  The Primary Care elective at BU’s Student Health Services’ (SHS) Department of Primary Care (PC) provides students with an opportunity to engage in a university-based, outpatient primary care clinic serving a diverse domestic and global population. The MS4 will be part of a multi-disciplinary team and will participate in daily patient care. Simulating a primary care physician, they will be expected to conduct and document a thorough history, physical, assessment, differential, and plan. They will be assigned and guided by a physician and may have opportunities to rotate in other departments of SHS (Behavioral Medicine, Wellness, Sexual Assault Response & Prevention Center (SARP), and Athletic Training).
• MED MD 585: Primary Care Clinical Acting Intern
  
• MED MD 586: Endocrine, Diabetes and Nutrition
  Students work closely with the faculty and fellows on the inpatient endocrine and diabetes consult services. They will see a wide variety of endocrine and weight management problems in the clinics. Two weeks will be spent on the inpatient diabetes team and 2 weeks on the endocrine consult team.  The consultation team provides help in the diagnosis and management of complex endocrine problems on the medical and surgical services. Formal rounds are made with the endocrine-attending physician or diabetes attending on a daily basis. In addition to inpatient rounds, students will have the opportunity to rotate in the outpatient clinics depending on workload and inpatient volume.  Students are required to attend weekly endocrine conferences which include guest lecturers, research conferences and fellow case presentations, and will be asked to present on an endocrine topic during their elective.
• MED MD 587: Infectious Diseases
  The student will join the inpatient infectious disease consultation team at Boston Medical Center. The team will include an infectious disease fellow and be supervised by an infectious disease attending physician. The student will evaluate patients under the direction of the fellow, present cases at daily rounds to the attending physician, prepare a thorough written summary of the consultation, and review the medical literature relevant to the patient’s care. Case discussions are oriented around a history and physical examination that incorporates specific information relevant to an infectious disease work-up, and the diagnosis and management appropriate to the patient. The attending physician will review the student’s written presentations, and the student will be given the opportunity to present information gleaned from the medical literature. Students will learn about community and hospital-acquired infections, infections in immunocompromised hosts, including those with HIV infection, and the appropriate use of antimicrobial agents. Students are expected to participate in all service activities Monday through Friday. Patient care and teaching rounds take place daily for 2-3 hours. No weekend responsibilities or evening call is required.
• MED MD 588: Clinical Elective in Sexual Medicine
  Students will learn about the specialty of Sexual Medicine and what makes Sexual Medicine unique in regard to patient care. Sexual Medicine is the medical discipline that embraces the study, diagnosis and treatment of sexual health concerns of men and women. It is based on knowledge primarily from the areas of endocrinology, gynecology, neurology psychology and urology, but incorporates other disciplines as well. The elective is primarily an outpatient experience. Students choosing this elective will observe patients being evaluated and treated and potentially participate in ongoing clinical research at the Center for Sexual Medicine. Students will have the opportunity to observe patient examinations and patient surgeries, and accompany physicians on rounds. They will learn how to 1) generate a sexual health history, 2) perform an appropriate physical exam, 3) make an assessment and 4) develop a plan of therapy. They will be invited to attend ongoing educational programs including but not limited to rounds and sexual medicine information sessions for the general public. The student must demonstrate that he or she is not embarrassed discussing sexual health issues, is comfortable using the vocabulary of the genital anatomy, and is not judgmental about the sexual practices of others. This elective is offered only to students attending Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine or medical schools with established exchange programs with Boston University.
• MED MD 589: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation - Kaiser
  Students will obtain a broad exposure to the disorders that are treated by PM&R and will learn how to do a functional exam that includes neurologic and musculoskeletal assessment. It will be an introduction to electro-diagnostic medicine and interventional spine procedures and also have an exposure to inpatient rehabilitation care. The student will become familiar with a variety of functionally limiting medical disorders and physiatric approach to evaluation and management. The student will learn to do a physical assessment with an emphasis on function. He/she will work with other specialists and ancillary healthcare workers in a comprehensive team based approach toward care. The elective will take place at the outpatient clinic, interventional suite, along with the hospital at Kaiser Permanente, San Jose Medical Center. If possible during the selected block, students may have the opportunity to rotate at the Kaiser Permanente Vallejo’s comprehensive rehabilitation facility, but students should expect that they will rotate primarily at the San Jose location.
• MED MD 590: Health Care Entrepreneurship Program
  The elective at the Health Care Entrepreneurship Program (HCEP) exposes the medical student to the health care system from the perspective of the Clinician Entrepreneur. It provides insight into the world of business focusing on the start-up phase of health care companies. It offers exposure to the process of building a company from the moment of idea inception; through the stage of business plan writing, to the point of financing and initiation of operations. While at HCEP the student will join the team and contribute in one of three ways: - Critically evaluate new business opportunities presented to HCEP, - Actively assist HCEP ventures by conducting clinical and market research necessary to advance the project, or - Develop the student’s own ideas for a business opportunity In addition to the tasks above, the elective will challenge and enhance the student’s analytic abilities, written and verbal communication skills, and his/her ability to function in a professional business environment. HCEP’s current areas of business interests include information technologies, health data and informatics, quality of care, clinical guidelines, cost containment, and delivery system efficiency. Responsibilities will include: 1) Written report to senior staff members regarding analysis of business plans, research results, and/or a business proposal outline of their own specific health care business idea 2) Interviews with HCEP staff concerning their business experiences as needed 3) Weekly meetings with to discuss ideas, insights, and progress Participation in this elective requires: 1) A letter of intent written by the student and submitted along with a current resume 2) An interview
• MED MD 591: Illness Narratives
  The elective is an opportunity for fourth-year students to read published illness narratives and to investigate their own experiences through writing. Students will gain proficiency in examining, discussing, and responding to topics related to illness, death, and dying as experienced by patients, families, and medical practitioners. The elective offers a space in which to engage in self-reflection and discussion with peers. Discussion will center on selected readings (longer works read prior to class and shorter pieces read during class), as well as in-class writing exercises shared within the group. Writing prompts will serve as entry points for exploring experiences ranging from patients’ encounters with illness to grief and loss, topics that frequently arise in medical practice but tend to receive little attention in standard medical-school curricula. In the third and fourth years of medical school, students begin to amass a variety of clinical experiences that warrant but often fail to receive deeper examination and contemplation. A primary objective of the elective—and one of its unique features–is to provide a venue for fourth-year students to begin to excavate and articulate some of these experiences. This elective employs the illness narrative to (1) encourage a greater capacity for receiving and interpreting stories of illness, death, and dying, and (2) facilitate conversation among students about their own clinical experiences. Unlike other courses, this elective is longitudinal, meeting regularly over a period of months and thereby offering students time to integrate their clinical experiences as they occur. The course takes place at BUSM in a monthly seminar format. Classes are facilitated by the course instructor. There may be occasional guest faculty facilitators. There will be no direct patient encounters during this elective. The course includes 12 hours of in-class teaching (six sessions, two hours each). In addition, students will be responsible for completing approximately 30 hours of preparation including outside readings and a final project, which may be a compilation of writing or other creative project that demonstrates competence in understanding the illness narrative. Some assigned readings will be available via the BU Library Course Reserves. The majority of writing exercises will take place during class, but students are encouraged to maintain their writing practice between sessions.
• MED MD 592: Medical Education Curriculum Projects
  The Medical Education Curriculum Projects elective provides for a MS4 student the opportunity to use a systematic instructional design process to discover, design, develop, and deploy in four weeks an instructional project on a content area of their choice. The focus of the elective is to learn and apply nontraditional curricular formats (e.g., integration of basic sciences and clinical content using technology, online modules, innovative study tools, and simulations.) Each student meets with a Faculty member as the content expert and the Elective Director a month in advance of the elective to approve the topic, and then weekly to review the deliverables and decide how the project will be implemented. GOAL: The purpose of this elective is to guide the MS4 student through the development of an instructional project for the current BUSM curriculum, presentation at a conference, posting to an educational portfolio, or for their future roles as physicians, educators, and researchers.
• MED MD 594: Global Health Elective
  This is a clinical clerkship or research opportunity for medical students interested in the field of Global Health (GH). BUSM has a few established affiliations with hospitals and medical schools overseas, but students may seek alternative sites for their electives. They must be conversant with the language spoken in the host country for maximal learning benefit unless there is a provision for translators as part of the elective.
• MED MD 595: Medical Care in Armenia
  
• MED MD 596: Global Health Elective - Hadassah Medical School
  
• MED MD 597: Adult Medicine-Geriatrics - University of Crete
  Adult Medicine-Geriatrics - University of Crete
• MED MD 598: MD MBA Internship in Health Care Provider Administration and Administrative Consulting