Life as a Clerk

Clerkship Assessments

During clerkship, students will complete several mandatory and elective rotations. For each rotation, students must complete a list of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs), Clinical Encounters and procedures under the supervision of their preceptor. 

• Clinical Encounters: Rotations have specific "must see" clinical presentations that students are required to log; these encounters are self-reported. More details will be provided during specific rotations. Completing your encounter log is required to pass each clerkship.

• Procedures: Some rotatations have specific procedures assigned. If these procedures have not been completed already in rotations prior to the assigned rotation, they must be completed during the assigned rotation. Procedures  are logged under specific assigned rotations, even if they are completed in a different (earlier) rotation. 

  • • For example, "injection" is an assigned procedure for Family Medicine but could be done during the Medicine rotation. You would look in your Cally: Assesssments & Assignments under Family Medicine to find and log the procedure. If completed successfully, you would not have to repeat it during the Family Medicine rotation. The procedure needs to be logged as completed to pass the assigned rotation.

• EPAs: At the beginning of each rotation, students will be provided with a list of mandatory EPAs that they must be observed on. The EPA instructions will specify whether it needs to be observed and completed by a faculty preceptor, or if a resident can be the assessor. Students can track EPA completion in their portfolio.med dashboard. Each rotation has a list of specific required EPAs that must be completed during the rotation.

Here are two examples of EPA Assessment Trackers:

Transportation

Clerkship students are responsible for the costs associated with travelling to their clerkship sites. 

• Car: Students who drive a vehicle can purchase a parking pass; however, parking passes at AHS and Covenant Health sites do not guarantee students a spot. 

• Public Transit: Many of the clerkship locations are accessible via transit. UAlberta students have unlimited access to public transit using the Edmonton Transit System, Beaumont Transit, Fort Saskatchewan Transit, Leduc Transit, Spruce Grove Transit, City of St. Albert Transit, and Strathcona County Transit. 

Clerkship Learning Environment

During the clerkship, students learn predominantly through their clinical experiences, academic half-days, supplementary online courses, and a significant amount of self-teaching. Given the requirements of the rotation, the specific learning environment varies between sites/preceptors. For example, specific rotations require rounding (virtual or in-person), some are clinic-based, and others require more procedures or a combination of the former. That said, students can be expected to take patient histories, complete general or targeted physical examinations, document patient progress, assist with procedures, review and interpret vitals and suggest management plans during most rotations. 

Clerkship Setting 

Clerkship students will visit various health centres in Alberta during their 3rd and 4th years of the MD program. As such, the clerkship setting greatly varies between sites/preceptors. 

• Sites: Unless students are enrolled in ICC or the Grande Prairie tracks, most rotations are completed in Edmonton at the main sites (i.e., UAH, RAH, MIS, Stollery, North Edmonton Children's Centre and GNH). Some rotations require students to travel to the Sturgeon or Fort Saskatchewan Hospitals. All students must complete at least one month of rural family medicine with RhPAP covering accommodation fees. 

• On-Call: Some rotations require students to be "on-call." Students must be available and promptly answer their phone/pager during this time. During overnight call shifts, students can access an on-call room with an area to rest or sleep. 

• Lounge and Locker Access: Please view the document below for information on accessing lounges and lockers at different clerkship sites. 

Clerkship Stipend

In June of their third year, medical students receive a stipend from the MD Program of $4200. Stipends are provided to help pay for expenses related to their clerkship rotations.

Duty Hours

The Clerkship Duty Hours Policy establishes guidelines for the number of hours medical students are required to spend in clinical learning environments. This policy aligns with the Provincial Association of Resident Physicians of Alberta (PARA) guidelines. This policy is often referred to as the "26 Hour Rule" policy, which states that medical students can work up to 26 hours (24 hours of active clinical duties and 2 hours for handover of care). Also outlined in the document is the policy about clerks working on a named holiday. 

The Duty Hours Policy also includes designation of named holidays as consistent with the named holidays in the PARA agreement (see section 2.iv. of the policy). Please note that per the policy, Easter Monday is a normal working day, and students are expected to attend to their clinical duties, similar to residents. Students who work Good Friday receive a day in lieu to be taken on the same rotation. There is no day in lieu for students who work Easter Monday.  Students who are placed in a non-AHS environment such as a private clinic attend their clinical placement if the non-AHS environment is open on Easter Monday. 

Students should be aware that clerkship administrators who are University employees will not be working on Easter Monday and are not expected to respond to emails on that day. 

Clerkship Absences

The MD Program has an absence policy outlining situations where students may be excused from attending mandatory learning sessions and formal assessments in person. Please see the current Clerkship Absence Policy for complete details regarding categories of excused absences.

Any student who is missing clinical activities or other designated mandatory learning activities must submit requests for excused absences through the Absence Request in Cally. The policy details specific deadlines depending on the type and duration of the anticipated absence.

• For expected absences (e.g. conference presentation, MSA activity, other activities covered in the absence policy), make sure to submit the request as early as possible and before any travel arrangements are made.

• For unexpected and/or urgent absences (e.g. medical illness, family emergency), please submit this as soon as possible, ideally the day of the absence. Such absences can be submitted up to 1 week after the illness/emergency,  or will otherwise be noted as an unexcused absence.

• Please ensure you also inform the Clerkship Coordinator and your direct rotation preceptor with whom you are working during the time of absence that you will be away.

For any additional questions regarding the absence policies and procedures, please contact Dr. Vijay Daniels, Assistant Dean, Assessment.

Lockers, Call Rooms, Study Spaces, and Lounges for Clerks