What Some Students and Faculty Have to Say About the SCP Experience

With all the information that is thrown at us in the classroom, it is easy to forget why we decided to become physicians in the first place. But every week through my SCP experience and interacting with patients, I am reminded of my primary motivation to become a doctor. I will always remember the woman with Crohn’s disease who told me her powerful life story or the man with Parkinson’s who just needed someone to talk to. My SCP experience has allowed me to form bonds with patients, become more comfortable with physical exam techniques, and develop integral patient interaction skills that I could not have gained otherwise. I will always cherish this experience.

Mona, MS II

Student Continuity Practice is a very rewarding experience. I sometimes find myself discouraged with medical school by the many hours spent learning out of books, knowing that I would much rather learn from first-hand experience seeing patients. At your SCP site you have the opportunity to meet with patients, gather their history information, conduct a physical exam and even hazard a diagnosis. Essentially, you get to play the part of a practicing physician for a few hours each week. For me, SCP is the most encouraging and motivational aspect of UConn’s curriculum.

Paul, MS I

Most of us enter medicine with the excitement of having a positive impact on the lives of others. We consider ourselves to be white-coated gladiators fighting disease and saving lives. How many of us consider the impact the patient will have on us and how much these patients will shape our perspectives? SCP has offered me several opportunities to develop myself as a doctor and to allow patients to mold my future clinical practices; observations of my SCP preceptor have already demonstrated the value of being an empathetic, competent, and clinically insightful physician who shares fantastic rapport with her patients and colleagues.

SCP offers rewarding experiences to develop mentoring relationships with local physicians, develop your clinical skills and to work in interdisciplinary teams composed of physicians, nurse practitioners, dieticians, etc. to facilitate health care delivery. Furthermore, it complements the basic science curricula by providing a real life context for the physiology and pathology you are learning in the classroom! In this way, SCP advances and promotes UConn School of Medicine’s unique emphasis on integrative learning.

Naima, MS I

I spend every Wednesday afternoon at my pediatric SCP site and it is the highlight of my week. Even as a first year, I am taken seriously by the patients, but even more importantly by the doctors I work with. They ask for my opinion, they value my judgment and are eager to teach me everything they know about this incredible profession. There is no doubt in my mind that SCP is one of the most valuable pieces of my medical education.

Katie, MS I

My experience as an SCP preceptor has been the most personally rewarding aspect of my medical career. Being a mentor for students, helping them mature into capable, caring clinicians over the three years they are with me, is the essence of why I am a physician.

A. Ciardella, M.D.

SCP is the time of the week where I am reminded of why I spend endless hours in the library – for my patients. Every time I go, my decision to become a doctor is reaffirmed.

Matt, MS II

I am very excited to be an SCP preceptor as I myself was an SCP student not too long ago. I know how important SCP was in my training in exposing me to the "real world" of medicine while I learned the all important pathophysiology and theory of medicine in the classroom. It is like coming full circle to now precept a student as once someone else precepted me.

Sarah, SCP Preceptor

Jessica Magda, M.D., '01, and Michael Curi, M.D., '01, made it a priority to sign up as SCP preceptors when they moved back to Connecticut. "SCP was so integral in our education, we were terrifically excited to reconnect with the program and with UConn Med School. It has been a blast so far – a great way to teach and learn at the same time!
 

Jessica Magda, M.D.
J. Michael Curi, M.D.