Students are required to complete a longitudinal ambulatory clerkship (LAC) in their last two years of medical school. The LAC must be of six months (26 weeks, anticipating vacation weeks) duration and must consist of one-half day per week at a single outpatient site. For every ten weeks of longitudinal experience (based on one-half day per week), one week of credit will be counted towards the required 80 clinical weeks. Additional months may be taken at the same or other sites.

The LAC has the unique characteristic of running concurrently with other clerkships and electives. Without proper planning, this can be problematic for you and for clerkship directors. This can be avoided by following the simple suggestions that follow.

1. Consider when the best time might be to begin your LAC. The minimum six-month requirement can be fulfilled anytime during your third or fourth year and may be interrupted. However, it may not be condensed.  It must last for six months or 26 weeks to fulfill the requirement.  If you intend to do the six month minimum, you will get the most out of your LAC by taking it after you have completed all or most of the core clerkships. This usually means taking it in the beginning of your last year (July-December).
2. If your LAC will run concurrently with a core clerkship, carefully review that clerkship's "don't miss" times in the clerkship (see below). Working with your LAC supervisor, try to develop a satisfactory schedule. Scheduling of core clerkship requirements takes precedence over LAC activities.  Since one of the goals of the LAC is seeing patients in follow-up, advance planning is critical. LAC scheduling options may include changing the half-day period, starting your half-day at a different time, or scheduling LAC activities for less often than every week.  The responsibility for advance planning rests on your shoulders, so plan ahead!
3. Speak directly to the clerkship director whose clerkship will run concurrently with your LAC at least five weeks in advance. Let the clerkship director know what your plans are and see if he or she has any other suggestions. If you have planned carefully, the clerkship director should be agreeable with your plan. If the clerkship director offers you an alternative suggestion and you can reasonably accommodate that alternative, then you should adopt that plan instead.
4. With advanced planning and good faith on the part of all concerned, everything should work out fine. However, if you and the clerkship director are unable to reach a mutually acceptable plan, then you should contact the Associate Dean for Education (Philip A. Gruppuso, 863-1618) who will help to identify a solution.

Below is a listing of longitudinal ambulatory clerkships that are formally offered. Please be in touch with the contact person listed for availability and scheduling. If you are interested in doing a longitudinal that is not on this list, it must be proposed as an independent study at least two weeks before it is to begin. Forms for that purpose can be downloaded at the link below.

Please be in touch with Lori Avallone (863-1580 or by email at Lori_Avallone@brown.edu) if you have any questions regarding your LAC requirement. Be sure to inform Ms. Avallone of the start and anticipated end dates of your LAC prior to the starting date so you can be registered for the rotation. Credit towards your graduation requirements will not be applied retroactively if you are not registered for your LAC. Not fulfilling the requirement can result in your date of graduation being delayed.

Established Longitudinals

 

Who to Contact to set up	Specialty	Location	Course Numbers
Helene Felici, 444-3406	Pediatrics	Various	461
Dr. Sybil Cineas, 444-6118	Med/Peds	Med/Peds Clinic	316
Kerry King, 444-5344	Medicine	RIH MPCU Clinic	336
Mary Gervais, 274-1122 x2721	Ob/Gyn	Various	493
Jane Shaw, 729-2763	Family Medicine	Various	583
Dr. G. Gopalakrishnan office at 444-6304	Endocrinology	RIH	315
Sarah 444-8766	Gastroenterology	RIH	343
Susan Tootell, 793-7152	Comprehensive HIV Care	MH Immunology Ctr. or ACI* *Adult Correctional Institution	319
Dr. Jerrold Rosenberg 453-5030	Rehabilitation	Office	547
Dr. Kent Anderson, 444-4669 or kanderson2@lifespan.org	Ophthalmology	Coro Ctr, 202	406
Dr. Joseph Friedman 739-0350	Neurology/Ambulatory	Neuro Health 227 Centerville Rd., Warwick RI	382
Dr. T. Tracy 444-7605-Joan	Pediatric Surgery	RIH/HCH	409
Dr. R. Cosgrove 444-8040	Functional Neurosurgery	RIH/Office	381
Call Leslie, 444-8393 for a listing of available surgeons	Surgery	Rhode Island Hospital	408
Dr. AP Weiss, 457-1520	Hand Surgery	RIH/University Orthopedics	416
Warren Ong wong@GatewayHealth.org	Outpt. Psychiatry	Varies	520
Sun Ahn, sahn@lifespan.org	Vascular & Interventional Radiology		627

For a full, complete list of established Longitudinals, please check Oasis.

Please use this guide when scheduling your longitudinal ambulatory clerkship.
These are the “don’t miss” times on clerkships for scheduling your longitudinal as well as contact information.

Medicine – please refer to your specific site:
RIH – Kerry King at 444-5344	Miriam Hosp.  –  Diane Boulais at 793-4001	MHRI – Evelyn Valois at 729-2859	VAMC – Allison Jeffrey at 273-7100 X 3407
Monday & Wednesday afternoon	During 4 wks. of out-pt., Mon & Wed. PMs cannot be missed. During 8 wks. in-pt, Tues.Thurs. & Fri. PMs are the least disruptive	Mornings on inpatient month; Tues – Fri afternoons.  Mondays are best day or Ambulatory month	Wednesday, Thursday & Friday afternoons on in-pt. & Thursday when on out-patient

Surgery – Leslie Cabana at 444-8393	Ob/Gyn – Kristine at 274-1122, ext. 1805
Tuesday morning grand rounds 7-8AM; orientation and workshops on Monday & Tuesday of the first week & the Monday, Thursday and Friday of the last week of the clerkship and Monday - Thursday 4pm-5pm.	Every day from 3:30 – 5:00 PM Call for more information/guidance

Pediatrics – Helene at 444-3406	Psychiatry – all sites – Esther at 455-6417
All mornings & Tuesday and Thursday afternoons	All mornings & Wednesday afternoons

Family Medicine – Jane at 729-2763	Community Health – Kayla at 863-3699
All day on Wednesdays	Community Health Clerkship has a highly individualized schedule, therefore students should contact Joann as soon as possible to discuss potential scheduling conflicts for the longitudinal (kayla_Cetrone@brown.edu)

If you'd like to propose a longitudinal that isn't on this list, please compete and submit the form below, and be sure it's submitted and approved before starting the experience.  Longitudinal Ambulatory Clerkship Application for Independent Study