UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION & OTHER STUDENT PROGRAMS

Our novel Cambridge Integrated Clerkship (CIC) and interprofessional training experiences are emulated widely. For many, these are the pride of CHA.

  • The HMS Cambridge Integrated Clerkship (CIC): Designed in a longitudinal integrated clerkship model rather than short sequential rotations, students follow their “own” cohort of patients over time and through venues of care. Students are given meaningful roles and authentic responsibility for providing clinical care. They receive direct, personal, faculty supervision in all core disciplines simultaneously.

  • CHA hosts first year HMS students for their required multifaceted Practice of Medicine (POM) course. In addition, there are multiple elective offerings. Please contact the HMS registrar for current electives.

  • The Department of OBGYN hosts 16 third-year Tufts University School of Medicine students in six-week blocks throughout each academic year. The students rotate on the L&D floor, in the gynecologic OR, and in the outpatient setting - giving them an opportunity to experience a community hospital with a diverse patient population. Students gain a unique interdisciplinary perspective by working with OBGYN MDs and also Family Medicine MDs, physician assistants, nurse midwives, advanced practice RNs, and resident physicians.

  •  PA students from the Boston University PA program participate in a 6-month longitudinal clerkship in OB/GYN, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine. They engage in interprofessional educational activities with CIC students.

  • The CHA Department of Pharmacy precepts 50 - 75 PharmD students each year from 5 areas Colleges of Pharmacy (Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Western New England University, University of Rhode Island, and the University of Connecticut).

GRADUATE EDUCATION

  • Residencies, Fellowships, and Training programs. CHA sponsors fully accredited programs and fellowship programs.

  • For over a decade we have hosted the Clinical Learning Environment Innovation Awards (CEO-CLER) Program, a small grants program, which enlists graduate-level trainees in improving the clinical learning environment at CHA. All graduate level trainees in CHA-sponsored health professional education programs are eligible to apply for a small grant to support initiatives that will improve patient experience of care and staff experience of caring.

  • CHA provides several opportunities for graduate trainees across the institution. We have a trainee wellness initiative, the Trainee Experience Advisor (TXA) Program, which features workshops and retreats focused on mindfulness, compassion, wellbeing and renewal. Our TXA program can advise on resources such as self-assessment scales that may indicate to the trainee the need for support. We have invested in a program that provides more robust and easily accessible mental health and wellness services for our trainees through the CHA insurance plan.

 
 

CONTINUING EDUCATION

  • Grand Rounds at CHA are a series of timely departmental lectures designed to disseminate knowledge on new advances in medicine, clinical research findings, improving patient care and more. Continuing Medical Education credits are often available to participants. CHA departments that host Grand Rounds include Family Medicine, Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Quality and Safety and the CHA Center for Mindfulness and Compassion.

  • The Psychiatry Continuing Medical Education Programs work with Harvard Medical School to offer quality educational programs for mental health professionals highlighting the latest clinical, theoretical and research findings.

  • The Center for Health Equity Education and Advocacy (CHEEA) offers courses year round to differing audiences with the goal to better equip healthcare professionals to be change agents in our healthcare system and society.

  • The CHA Center for Mindfulness and Compassion offers professional trainings for professionals interested in practicing and teaching mindfulness based interventions

  • The Office of Academic Affairs funds competitive educational experiences annually, including Harvard Macy Institute courses.

  • The Mindful Healthcare Scholars program (MHS) is an interprofessional program uniquely tailored for people working in, or who want to work in, any clinical system such as hospitals, healthcare systems, primary care, community health centers, mental healthcare, addiction treatment, and other healthcare institutions. Mindful Healthcare Scholars is a training program offered by the Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) Center for Mindfulness and Compassion, with support from the CHA Office of Academic Affairs. CHA is a Harvard Medical School affiliated health care system.