Things you may need to know
Gain a greater understanding of our program,
the facilities and the resources we offer
Describe didactics at your facility.
Preceptor lectures, CMEs, journal club, and student case conferences are provided. Student case conferences are monthly (except in summer months), and a schedule of lectures and CMEs is provided annually. Students do morning rounds with attendings and are often given reading assignments. Overnight ER experiences are also provided as part of the Cape didactic schedule.
How many students, interns, and residents are on a rotation?
Cape Girardeau only hosts medical students. Students are always trained by physicians and never by interns and residents. This makes for an optimal training site for medical students.
How often are students one-on-one with an attending or resident?
Students are always one-on-one with an attending physician. Residents do not train in Cape Girardeau. Medical students do not have to compete with interns and residents for procedures and assisting in surgeries and obstetrics.
Are students offered/encouraged to actively participate in procedures?
This is one of the best parts of completing your clinical in a smaller community. Students are allowed to participate in many procedures. When students complete their Obstetrics/Gynecology rotations, they are actually allowed to deliver babies. You are always first assist in surgeries as there are not interns/residents in from of you.
Is the hospital affiliated with other hospitals?
What other medical school affiliations does your facility have?
There are two independent private hospital facilities in this training site program, Saint Francis Medical Center and SoutheastHEALTH. They are linked by the Cape Girardeau Area Medical Society whose member physicians serve as preceptors for student training. Medical schools that send students to this site include: KCOM in Kirksville, KCUMB in Kansas City, University of Missouri-Columbia, and UMKC in Kansas City.
What is the trauma level of your emergency department? If your emergency department is not a Level I trauma center, will students have an opportunity to rotate at a Level I trauma center?
Saint Francis has a Level III trauma center. There are no Level I trauma centers in this region. Students who would like to rotate at a Level I trauma center may certainly do an elective rotation and one of the many hospitals which ATSU has affiliation agreements with.
What is the on-call policy for medical students?
The on-call policy varies by rotation. Most rotations do not have night call. Students with strong interests in surgery, OB/GYN and other specialties which have a lot of call may talk with individual physicians and be put on the call lists to be called in for "interesting cases".
Is charting done electronically?
Yes. Students are given their own usernames and passwords to access resources at any time of the day or night.
Is there a food allowance and how much?
Courtesy meals are provided in the doctors’ lounges at both hospitals.
Are pagers provided to students?
No. Most all preceptors use cell phones and take student cell phone numbers as well as give students their cell phone numbers.
Are lockers available for students to use?
Students are given access to the doctor’s lounge which is a locked, secure area, but lockers are not provided.
What unique qualities/opportunities does your facility have to offer?
The Cape Girardeau County Area Medical Society sponsors the students to attend all Symposiums sponsored by the medical society. The medical society also sponsors the student’s attendance at the monthly meetings which are held at one of the finer restaurants in town. The medical society also publishes a monthly newsletter in which it publishes all medical students written case studies.
Both hospitals are expanding at an astonishing rate. Cape Girardeau is the ‘medical hub’ for southeast Missouri with almost any sub-specialty you could want. Both hospitals are very competitive which makes for better medical care for patients and outstanding training for medical students. The Cape Girardeau sites gives students the hands on and one-on-one training as well as an excellent preceptor base of primary care and specialty rotations.