Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine Mentoring and Teaching Opportunities

All students at QU Netter complete a capstone project as part of their graduation requirements and participate in a related concentration experience that is noted on their diploma. Beginning in the fall of Year 1, students begin actively seeking mentors for their longitudinal scholarly capstone projects. Faculty serving as mentors work with a QU Netter medical student to design and execute a capstone project, starting in Year 1 and continuing through Year 4, in one of the following concentrations:

• Basic Science, Translational, and Clinical Research Global, Public, and Community Health

• Health Policy and Advocacy 

• Health Communications

• Health Management and Organizational Leadership 

• Interprofessional Education and Practice

• Medical Education 

• Medical Humanities

As part of the concentration/capstone experience, students take graduate courses at schools across Quinnipiac University to gain additional knowledge and skills to apply to their capstone project and present their completed projects in Year 4 at Capstone Scholars Day. 

Additional Details:

• Faculty mentors receive a $2,000 stipend

• Students have a $2,500 project budget 

• Mentors complete 6 required online assessments of students over 4 years 

• Mentors complete CITI training in mentoring 

• Mentors meet with their mentees once per semester to provide feedback

• Average time commitment of 3-6 hours per year

Contact Barbara Bergen, Director of Student Research, for more information

Year 3 of a student’s education comprises in-depth clinical learning in six core specialties: medicine, surgery, psychiatry, primary care, pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology. During these immersive experiences, students advance their learning in history-taking, physical exam skills, communication skills, oral presentation and medical documentation skills, interpreting diagnostic information, and developing management plans.

Faculty roles:

• Provide supervision, teaching, assessment, and feedback for students in the clinical setting within 2-5 week rotations

• Create a welcoming, inclusive, safe, stimulating, and equitable learning environment

Contact Dr. Adam Weinstein, Assistant Dean for Clinical Curriculum, for more information

QU Netter students must complete at least one sub-internship, a rotation in either emergency medicine or critical care, and electives. Through two- to four-week electives in a variety of specialties and subspecialties, Year 4 students have the opportunity to expand their clinical knowledge and also explore diverse career possibilities. These Year 4 experiences take place in both inpatient and outpatient settings and are an essential component of the MD curriculum.  The participating clinical faculty play a key role in the development of medical students into outstanding physicians who are prepared for residency.

Contact Dr. Adam Weinstein, Assistant Dean for Clinical Curriculum, for more information

This first- and second-year early clinical experience prepares students for the hands-on aspects of clinical care by building the skills, knowledge and attitudes needed to practice medicine. Early in their first year, each medical student is paired with a practicing community physician which provides each medical student with a supervised environment to practice fundamental clinical skills (history taking, physical exam and communication skills) with patients.

Students are asked to:

• Actively observe their preceptor in their day-to-day medical practice as they work with their patients and support staff.

• Actively participate in the care of a few patients each session, obtaining complete or problem-focused history and physical examination skills and practicing oral presentation skills.

Additional Details:

• In-person teaching opportunity

• Preceptors observe and provide feedback

• Students rotate in faculty practices 1 afternoon per week or every other week, for up to 15 to 20 afternoons/year.

  • 1st year students: October – May

  • 2nd year students: August – March

Contact Dena Rozanski, Clinical Arts & Sciences Course Manager, for more information

The Year 1 and Year 2 Clinical Arts & Sciences Course (CAS) consists of MeSH (see above) and Foundations of Clinical Care (FCC). FCC faculty facilitate student’s practice and development of professionalism, history taking, physical exam, communication and clinical reasoning skills, primarily in small group settings, with standardized patients included in most sessions.

Specific Role: Small group preceptor for 4 students

Additional Details: 

• In-person teaching opportunity

  • Year 1: 8–10 a.m. on Thursdays from August to the end of May.

  • Year 2: 10 a.m.–noon on Thursdays from August to the end of March.

• Additional, optional, Tuesday afternoon sessions from 1–5 p.m. from August to October.

Contact Dena Rozanski, Clinical Arts & Sciences Course Manager, for more information 

The Year 1 and 2 Clinical Arts & Sciences Course (CAS) includes an ethics curriculum where faculty facilitate small groups and case discussions based on lecture material and readings delivered prior to the session.

Additional Details:

• In-person teaching opportunity

• Facilitate small- and medium-sized groups

• 4-5 Thursday afternoons (1-3 p.m.) for first or second-year medical students

• The first or second year curriculum

Contact Dena Rozanski, Clinical Arts & Sciences Course Manager, for more information 

Anatomy Lab is a foundational learning experience for Year 1 medical students at QU Netter, as part of the Foundations of Medicine course. Anatomy Lab Instructors assist student teams in identifying anatomical structures and biological variation as well as pathology and connect clinical context to the anatomy.

Additional Details

• In-person teaching opportunity

• Typical lab times: 9 a.m.–noon on Mondays and Wednesdays (occasional Tuesday or Friday morning)

• Curriculum taught in November–May of Year 1

  • Musculoskeletal: November–December

  • Neuroscience, Head and Neck: Janurary–February

  • Thorax (Lung, Heart, Kidney): February–March

  • Abdomen and Pelvis (GI, GU, Repro): April–May

Contact Sara Young, Course Manager for Foundations of Medicine, for more information

Content experts from any clinical field of medicine have opportunities to teach first and second-year medical students at QU Netter in the Foundations of Medicine courses. The Foundations of Medicine course is one of three integrated courses in the pre-clerkship phase of the QU Netter curriculum. Foundations of Medicine I (FOM I) is taken by students in the first year of the MD program and teaches biological function organized into organ systems over 37 weeks. Foundations of Medicine II (FOM II) is taken in the second year for 30 weeks and focuses on the pathophysiology of disease. The courses are taught through a variety of teaching methods including lectures, labs, small group events and other active learning experiences. Faculty teaching opportunities could include lecturing, facilitating a small group or leading a larger group of students through cases/problems in our active learning classrooms.

Additional Details: 

• In-person teaching opportunity in FOM I and/or FOM II

• Time commitment variable depending on teaching activity. All direct teaching occurs Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. - noon.

Contact Sara Young, Course Manager, Foundations of Medicine, for more information

Problem Based Learning (PBL) is an important and engaging learning experience for 2nd year medical students at QU Netter, as part of the Foundations of Medicine course. Students work in small groups each week to evaluate a patient (as a written case) in a way that approximates a team-based clinical encounter as a context for learning basic science, clinical reasoning, self-directed learning, communication, and other key skills. 

Faculty Role: 

• Facilitate a group of 8 second-year medical students as they work through a clinical case each week.

• Participate in one, 2-hour initial facilitator training session and weekly faculty sessions to become familiar with the cases that will be covered.

• Select one or more blocks (4–6 weeks) per year to facilitate. Blocks run from August to March

Additional Details:

• In-person teaching opportunity

• Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8–10 a.m. for 4-6 weeks

Contact Sara Young, Course Manager, Foundations of Medicine, for more information

Specialty advisers are paired with students in the middle of their third year. Specialty advisers provide information about their medical specialties and perspectives on work-life integration and share tips on applying to residency or succeeding as residents in those fields. Specialty advisors work in concert with career advisors to support students through the residency application process.

If you are interested in becoming a specialty adviser at Netter, please submit your CV and a brief description of your interests to somstudentaffairs@qu.edu.

Each student is assigned a career adviser in the midpoint of their second year. This adviser helps the student navigate clinical clerkships, clarify career goals and craft a strategic fourth-year schedule. The adviser also reviews personal statements and CVs and supports the application to residency. The career adviser position is a stipend position.

If you are interested in becoming a career adviser at Netter, please submit your CV and a brief description of your interests to somstudentaffairs@qu.edu.