The Clinical Years

PhD research typically draws to a close around the fifth or sixth year of training, leading the trainee to defend their thesis and start the third year of medical education in the sixth or seventh year. A Clinical Skills week orients the student to the policies and procedures of clerkship rotations, and then students embark on four modules that rotate them throughout many of the floors of Mount Sinai and affiliated institutions. The final year of the program, during which trainees typically apply and interview for residencies and fellowships, parallels the fourth year medical school curriculum, wherein students perform additional clerkships and take up to 21 weeks of electives, allowing for rotations at potential residency sites, scholarly work at affiliate institutions or an international venue, or longitudinal clinical experiences.