The societies program has been developed to enhance your medical school experience in the following ways:

• Early instruction (from the very first day) in the development of the fundamental skills of communication, history taking and the physical examination of patients
• Early introduction to what it means to be a medical professional and the importance of professionalism in the day to day practice of medicine
• Provide an ongoing support system that emphasis both peer support and the support of dedicated medical school faculty

The Societies program has been developed by the University of Arizona College of Medicine because the College believes that the above elements are an essential component to a successful educational experience.

The class has been divided into four Societies. The Societies are named after flora indigenous to Arizona and each has an associated color:

• Agave (Blue)
• Acacia (Green)
• Cholla (Yellow)
• Manzanita (Red)

Each Society has a five Society Mentors, one of whom also serves as the Society Head. Each Society Mentor is responsible for five to six students in each year of medical school. Thus, when the program is fully established after four years, each Society will contain approximately 110 students from all four years of medical school.

The Societies Program and Society Mentors will largely be responsible for administrating the course Doctors & Patients: Integrating the Art and Science of Medicine. This course provides objective evaluation of your clinical skills and assures your appropriate professional development during the first two years of medical school.

The content of the Societies Program and the Doctors & Patients course will, when possible, be complementary to and integrate with the material presented in the basic science blocks.

Foundations block
The structure for the Societies Program during Foundations will be different from that of the rest of the first two years. During Foundations, you will learn the normal physical exam and the basic medical history during weekly sessions with your Society Mentor. This part of the course will serve as foundational knowledge which you will practice and build on for the remaining years of medical school.

Other Blocks
During the remaining blocks of the first and second year, three distinct activities will occur within the Societies Program. The labs and bedside teaching sessions will use the full four hours scheduled for the Societies Program. The Professional Development Groups and additional activities are scheduled during the same session, each lasting approximately two hours.

Labs
Labs will occur one to two times within each block. During the labs, you will be taught the advanced medical history and the advanced/abnormal physical exam. When possible, these topics will be integrated with the material being presented in the current basic science block. Patient Instructors will be utilized as well as text book and other readings.

Bedside Teaching Sessions
These are the core activities of the Societies Program. In these sessions, your Society group of 5 or 6 students will go to the bedside for an interactive teaching session. We will be using our main teaching hospitals to recruit patients for these sessions: University Medical Center, University Physicians Healthcare-Kino Campus, and the Tucson Veterans Administration Medical Center. During these sessions, one or two students will perform a history and physical on a hospitalized patient, while their Society Mentor observes and gives feedback. The student will then give an informal presentation of the case to the rest of the group. The students who did not perform the history and physical will then have an opportunity to ask the patient questions and perform key aspects of the physical exam. After this, the Mentor and students will have a small group discussion regarding differential diagnosis, clinical thinking, evidence-based treatment, and other clinical topics related to the case. Finally, the student who performed the history and physical the preceding week will formally present their patient. A typed history and physical will be due two weeks after the patient interview.

Professional Development Groups and Student Support
Every four to six weeks you will participate in your Professional Development Group. Within these groups you will learn and discuss aspects of Medical Professionalism and share your feelings and thoughts about medical school. These sessions are confidential and not evaluative, other than attendance. The Professional Development Groups will be facilitated by Society faculty who are different from the students' regular Mentor.

The Professional Development Groups will have their first meeting during Foundations. During this session, instead of continuing to learn the medical history and physical examination, you will meet in your Professional Development Group and be introduced to the Medical Professionalism Curriculum. During this Societies session you will also participate in a reflective exercise with your Society group and Mentor.

Additional Activities
When they occur, the Professional Development Groups will meet for approximately two hours. For the two hours preceding them, a variety of activities will be scheduled. These will include reflective exercises, field trips, distinguished speakers, and other innovative learning opportunities.

The Society Mentors are among the College's most distinguished clinician-educators. All are active, respected clinicians who have been recognized for their teaching skills and have devoted much of their academic careers to medical education. The Mentors are all very excited to participate in the Societies Program and look forward to helping students develop their full potential in medical school.

Evaluation within the Societies Program and the Doctors & Patients course will be formative and summative. Multiple evaluation tools will be used, including peer evaluation. You will have multiple opportunities for formative evaluation from your Society Mentor during the labs and beside teaching sessions. For summative evaluations, the competencies endorsed by the College will be used.

Most of the activities within the Societies Program will be Pass/Fail. However, the Doctors & Patients course will use the Observed Structured Clinical Evaluation (OSCE) as the final exam and as such this course will be Pass/Fail/Honors.

Each of you will develop a learning portfolio through your participation in the Societies Program. Initially, this will be paper-based with an electronic version planned for the future. The purposes of the portfolio are:

• To provide a repository for your written work (patient write-ups, reflective exercises, etc.)
• To allow you and your Society Mentor to track your progress
• To maintain a record of your Society evaluations

Your portfolio will be a tool to help you assess your personal and professional growth. Your Mentor will periodically review your portfolio with you to help you identify your learning needs. You will have access to your portfolio at any time.

As a student in the Societies Program, your main role is to begin to learn core medical skills. Professionalism will be stressed in all of your medical school experiences, interactions with patients, peers, and medical personnel. Professionalism also applies to attendance and tardiness

Please notify Andrea Lopez at 626-3654 (alopez@email.arizona.edu) if you are going to be late or absent for a session. Advance notice is appreciated. You may also contact your Mentor directly in the event that your absence or tardiness is last moment. Additional contact information is available on the Societies Program web site.

Professional attire is expected when you are interacting with patients and Patient Instructors in the Societies Program. Examples of appropriate dress include trousers and a button-down shirt for men and slacks/skirt and a blouse for women. A white medical coat is optional.

For sessions conducted at the Southern AZ VA Healthcare System and at UPH – Kino Campus, car pooling is encouraged among the members of each Society group including your Society Mentor. Generally, it should only take one or two cars to transport one Society group of 5 or 6 students. Parking will be available at each site.

Our program is a new one. Just as you have much to learn, so do we, as individuals and as a program. As members of your Society you are expected to help support the development of your peers and the program as a whole. By working together in a variety of settings – clinical, didactic, and small group – we believe the Societies Program will lay the foundation for your growth and development as physicians prepared to serve the greater community.