It’s Week 11 and this usually means another round of assessments for NUHS students in Phases 1 and 2. It is also the time students begin to register for courses for the upcoming trimester. For DC students currently in Trimester 7, it is time to begin to prepare for the transition from daily coursework to caring for actual patients at one of NUHS’ Whole Health Center Clinics. For those of us in Phase 3, it means we’re either preparing to enter the third and final Clinic Internship of the curriculum or we are preparing to conclude the Doctor of Chiropractic Program altogether. No matter whether you are pre-Clinic or in the final weeks of the program, it is a time to reflect on and begin to map out the next steps on the horizon. At NUHS, students definitely receive support for doing this.

Some of the opportunities that NUHS offers its doctors-in-training that will encourage their readiness for transition to the field and equip them for operating successfully is through participation in Ancillary Clinical Experiences (ACE), namely, through clerkships, preceptorships and practice observations. As early as Trimester 8, Clinic Interns can begin to apply to participate in ACE’s, so that they can be in a position to enter into them with completion of Clinic requirements as early as Trimester 9. With clerkships, student interns can gain additional clinical experienced under the supervision of a licensed physician at a VA/Military Hospital. The preceptorship for DC students is carried out under the same premise at different sites like the Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Neurosurgery. And with Clinical Observations, interns can spend up to 10 days observing the operations and patient care of a licensed practitioner of their choosing.

Whether all of a student’s internship experience is completed at a Whole Health Center Clinic or with the incorporation of an ACE opportunity, by the time a DC student has completed the curriculum, she or he will be thoroughly furnished with what is needed to successfully transition to practice in the field and ably represent the Chiropractic profession.

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