When the University of Illinois College of Medicine adopted a new curriculum that integrated the basic and clinical sciences across all its campuses, Peoria took that approach one step further.
Unique to Peoria, students participate in the Early Longitudinal Immersion Interprofessional Team Experience, or ELI2TE. Now into its second year, this year-long, longitudinal program imbeds students into a clinic where they experience team-based, patient-centered care first-hand from various members of the care team.
“I feel as though I’ve seen a lot and gotten to do some cool things. I liked being able to see some of what we were learning about in class, especially with drugs. It helped to reinforce side effects and use. The experience was valuable because it allowed me to get in the clinic early on in medical school. This early clinical exposure was a reason why I chose to come to the U of I.” – a UICOMP M2 student
While most of the clinical sites are in Peoria, all are within an hour’s drive of UICOMP. Students begin the program just two months into the start of medical school and spend half a day every other week in the clinic. As students move into their second year of medical school, they provide guidance to the new M1 students as they come into the program.
Interested in being an ELI2TE physician preceptor?
ELI2TE is only possible because of the dozens of amazing physician faculty and the hard-working health care teams in their offices. If you are interested in participating in the ELI2TE program, contact Angela O’Bryant, Clinical Associate and Director of Academic Programs at UICOMP, 309-671-8495 or [email protected].
This article is part of the Winter 2019 edition of Pathways. Read the full issue.