Growing Family Medicine Clerkship Program Getting High Marks

Family Medicine medical education programs, which include both the required Family Medicine Clerkship as well as inpatient and outpatient rotations, help students gain exposure to the breadth of the discipline. The growing number of students has led to the clerkship program expanding its structure to keep pace.

Led by Director Elizabeth Brown, M.D., MPH, and Associate Director Nina Piazza, M.D., the clerkship program also includes Jingnan Bu, M.D., Director of Electives, and Caroline Donohue, M.D., Director of Acting Internship. Tamika Scott recently joined the program as the Clerkship Coordinator.

“The student classes continue to get bigger, and we are working hard to accommodate the increased number of students,” Dr. Piazza said. “Our new structure will be of great help in accomplishing this goal.”

While the clerkship program has expanded to serve every third- and fourth-year medical student at URSMD, that hasn’t affected the quality of the program. Among the last student class, 85% rated the faculty teaching as “excellent,” and 83% of the students rated the clinical environment as "excellent."

The quality of the program is also keeping students interested in family medicine. Approximately 60% of students are completing their clerkships at Highland Family Medicine or at Brown Square.

"These high ratings speak to the depth of the program and further demonstrate that our faculty are great teachers,” said Dr. Brown. “We thank our faculty for all they have done to teach our students.”

4/3/2025