LIC Info: VALUE

VALUE: Veterans Affairs Longitudinal Undergraduate medical Education (VALUE) clerkship is a Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship that offers 10 3rd-year medical students the opportunity to work with and follow patients over an extended period of time; developing an appreciation for continuity of care while completing the majority of their core clinical competencies over multiple disciplines.

The students complete multiple clerkships simultaneously including Internal Medicine, Surgery, Neurology, Psychiatry, Radiology, and an Outpatient Selective. Also included in VALUE is a distinct 2- credit elective where students explore any specialty that they choose.

In VALUE, each student is assigned a panel of 6-10 patients whom they follow longitudinally across different inpatient and outpatient care venues throughout the academic year. Students have the opportunity to add to their panels with additional patients. Students have meaningful connections with their panel patients and contribute to their care. Students are asked to reflect on the care of their panel patients during VALUE.

In addition, there is a core VALUE program elective with 4 themes: Quality improvement, Evidence-based Medicine, Interprofessional Education, and Health Equity.

• During the VALUE elective, students are provided the unique opportunity to facilitate an interdisciplinary team on a quality improvement and safety project. This project will be conducted utilizing the Lean Methodology. At the conclusion of the project, participants will receive a VA Certificate of Training in Lean Process Improvement and High Reliability Organization Methodology. Students are closely mentored by quality improvement experts as well as specialty specific mentors on their projects and present their quality improvement projects institutionally as well as at regional and national conferences.

• An Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) curriculum is provided for VALUE students during the clerkship.  The goal is for students to develop a firm understanding of evidence-based medicine principles and possess the tools, knowledge, and curiosity to further develop and refine their skills through their training with the aim of becoming self-directed critical thinkers who apply evidence-based principles to patient care. Each student is assigned to do a mentored journal club on an EBM topic.
• Interprofessional education and team-based practice knowledge and skills are taught through simulation, case presentations during interprofessional conferences, attending interprofessional conference lectures, and following patients longitudinally in the VA’s Community Living Center.
• Lastly, students will work together to sequentially explore and analyze health equity data from the VA Health Equity Dashboard.  Students will apply quality improvement principles to examine contributing factors and outline potential steps to address inequities in our population.

VALUE Information Presentation Download VALUE Information Presentation

Location

Minneapolis VA Medical Center

Previous Students' Feedback

Kersten Schwanz, MD, who also appears in the VALUE YouTube video posted above, found her career as a physiatrist focusing on sports medicine through her VALUE internship Links to an external site. at Minneapolis VA Health Care System.

Another former VALUE student, Baila Elkin, speaks about her experience:

Other previous VALUE students have also commented:

• “I believe that one of the most meaningful lessons I have learned thus far in the VALUE clerkship is what a gift it is to be trusted with so much patient information—in terms of their health, obviously, but also their life experiences."
• “We had an excellent professional and personal relationship as a group, and this is an advantage that I did not consider going into the year but has been a huge contributor to my positive experience."
• “The longitudinal relationship with preceptors facilitated my learning because I was able to gain their trust and was thus allowed to function with a high degree of autonomy. Being in the same hospital for 10 months opened the door for several interprofessional experiences.”