UME Program is a Continued Boon for Students in its Second Year

Bayhealth recently began its second year as a core clinical campus for Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM). The first year of the program, 2019-2020, which had 11 medical students, proved so successful that this year, 15 students were brought into the program. The Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) program at Bayhealth, led by Chair Joseph Rubacky, DO, FAAFP, and Co-Chair Shalini Shah, MD, MPH, trains third-year medical students.

The students complete 11 core rotations, each lasting one month. Each day, the students head to their specialty rotation where they follow a physician for four weeks, learning in a hands-on environment with real patients.

“These rotations have solidified what I have already learned in the classroom. The diseases and medicine make so much more sense seeing them in practice in real-life situations,” said fourth-year PCOM medical student Dominique Cross, referring to her third-year core rotations at Bayhealth.

In July, Bayhealth welcomed 15 new third-year PCOM medical students. The organization hosted a special event with COVID-19 precautions in a large space at Bayhealth Hospital, Kent Campus. All attendees followed the hospital guidelines, including wearing masks and maintaining social distance whenever possible.

The students were welcomed formally with brief words by Bayhealth President and CEO Terry Murphy, FACHE, Bayhealth Chief Medical Officer and Designated Institutional Official Gary Siegelman, MD, MSc, and Dr. Rubacky. All three encouraged the students to grow, to learn and, most importantly, to care for the patients.

The students are now a few months into their core rotations at Bayhealth. They are learning how to provide compassionate care to the patients of our community. While some will move elsewhere for residency, the goal is to promote interest in Bayhealth’s new Family Medicine and Internal Medicine residencies, both beginning in July 2021.

Visit BayhealthGME.org to learn more about Bayhealth's medical education programs.