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The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at the University of Vermont has a remarkable community that provides ample opportunities to connect with fellow graduate students, postdocs, staff, and faculty. Offerings include workshops, conferences, events and seminars to bring together the perspectives of our diverse specialties. It is important to share your voice and feel heard as well as get involved with our Larner Community. 

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Hands-On Learning: Medical Students Work with Patients Early in Curriculum

September 1, 2024 by Janet Essman Franz

Larner students work with real patients in the first year of medical school. In Doctoring in Vermont, a course that pairs students with physicians in the community, they provide direct patient care and practice history-taking and examination skills. First-year students also shadow nurses in the hospital, investigate social determinants of health, and do clinical work in community settings.

Medical student Varsha Pudi listens to a patient's heart during a Doctoring In Vermont session at Essex Pediatrics. (photo: David Seaver)

Baby Andrew coos contentedly while Varsha Pudi ’27 listens to his heart, feels his abdomen, and looks inside his ear with an otoscope.

This is Andrew’s six-month checkup, a time for the pediatrician to scan his growth and talk with his parents about his eating, sleeping, and development.

This is Pudi’s third session of Doctoring In Vermont, an eight-session course that spans the first and second year of the medical school curriculum.

Pudi listens and learns as Hannah Johnson, M.D. ’20, confers with Andrew’s parents. Johnson, a pediatrician at Essex Pediatrics in Essex Junction, Vt., serves as Pudi’s preceptor. “The experience has been fun and interesting,” Pudi says. “A physical exam on a newborn, infant, or toddler is very different than an adult because they move around a lot and are significantly smaller… Reassuring parents about their child’s health is very different than the practice of medicine with adult patients.”

Doctoring in Vermont (DIV) pairs first year medical students with physicians in the community. Students spend eight sessions observing and participating in direct patient care and practicing history-taking and examination skills. Martha Seagrave, PA-C, R.N., professor of family medicine, serves as course director and Judy Fingergut, M.D., assistant professor of family medicine, is associate course director.

In addition to Doctoring in Vermont, Larner medical students have multiple opportunities to participate in hands-on learning in the community during their first year of medical school. This includes visits to the medical center to shadow nurses and talk with patients, summer research projects, and community field work.

Read more about hands-on learning at the Larner College of Medicine.