Overview

The Surgery Clerkship is a twelve-week course offered to all third year students at the Feinberg School of Medicine.It is a unique collaboration between the Department of Surgery and the Departments of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Urology, Neurologic Surgery and Ophthalmology. Over 240 faculty members teach in the clerkship. The clerkship is lead by Dr. Julia Corcoran as Director. We our proud to have Dr. Amy Halverson as Associate Clerkship Director and Elizabeth Even, RN, MSN, CEN as Nurse Instructor. Our interim coordinator is Mrs. Leslie McSpadden.

Clinical Experiences

Each student spends four weeks in a Department of Surgery Apprenticeship, working directly with a faculty mentor. Students also experience subspecialty rotation(s) and four weeks of ambulatory clinic experiences.

The surgery clerkship is preparing for a record year - we expect over 200 students to enroll in the surgery clerkship this year! To meet this increased demand we are expanding the clinical learning opportunities offered to students. In addition to rotating through surgical disciplines at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the students will have opportunities to work at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, the MacNeal Hospital and the Jesse Brown VA Hospital. The students will have new opportunities to select and study surgical subspecialty practice. We welcome these divisions that have not traditionally had students into clerkship selectives - Cardiothoracic Surgery, Pediatric Surgery, Plastic Surgery and Transplant Surgery. Students will also have the opportunity to learn more about perioperative and intraoperative patient care with the addition of an anesthesia selective.

Didactic Experiences

Large group sessions are held twice weekly on Wednesday and Friday afternoons. These sessions may be a combination of lecture, demonstration and case-based group work. Furthermore, a series of skill sessions are directed by our nurse educator and an airway management simulation lab is provided. Departmental and divisional conferences are open to the students.

Many of the divisions within the Department of Surgery offer opportunities for electives to fourth year students from Feinberg School of Medicine and as visiting students.

Leslie McSpadden
Clerkship Coordinator
312.926.9411
lmcspadd@nmh.org