Are you interested in 

• developing a variety of teaching skills?
• patient-oriented or clinical/translational research?
• developing a better understanding of what clinicians do?
• collaborating with medical educators & clinicians?

The Harrell Professional Development and Assessment Center at the UF College of Medicine is seeking graduate students interested in working as Physical Exam Teaching Associates (PETAs) to assist first-year medical students in learning basic physical examination skills in the courses "Essentials of Patient Care (EPC) 1" and "EPC 2".  Physical Exam Teaching Associates provide instruction and feedback to students as they practice in small groups to learn examination of the ears, eyes, heart, lungs, etc.

For more information about the clinical skills involved, please see the On-line Physical Exam Teaching Assistant web page and videos contained therein.

Training for PETAs will be scheduled prior to each instructional session.  Instructional sessions will be scheduled for ~2 hours blocks of time.  Group training is preferred, because PETAs learn from each other and practice with each other.  The PETA training sessions are devoted to learning the normal PE and use of instruments such as stethoscope, ophthalmoscope, etc.  Part of the teaching philosophy of this course is "see one, do one, teach one".  

The teaching sessions are scheduled on selected weekday mornings from 7:45 a.m. to 12:00 noon during the Fall semester.  Details about the Spring schedule will be posted at a later date.

PETAs will be paid an hourly rate of $20/hour for teaching sessions and $15/hour for training sessions or the equivalent as a stipend.  

The Harrell Center simulates an outpatient clinical with 16 patient examination rooms, two conference rooms and a central monitoring/control room.  The center provides an environment that maximizes the learning of clinical skills.  You can visit the Harrell Center web site at http://www.med.ufl.edu/oea/comec/harrell/

For additional information please contact Dr. Margaret Duerson at 392-4511 or by e-mail at MDuerson@dean.med.ufl.edu.

For IDP students:

• Eligibility is limited to students who have passed their qualifying exam.
• You must have permission from your mentor, by obtaining signatures on an Application for Supplemental Appointments form (Word document) and turning in a copy to Dr. Duerson.
• The minimum participation requested is 2 sessions + final exam (~14 hours).  
• The maximum time commitment if a PETA participates in all sessions is 84 hours in Fall 2009 and 56 hours in Spring 2010. 
• Do not schedule PETA sessions at times you are expected to be in class, including journal clubs and seminars.
• Be sure to review the general requirements and be familiar with expectations for Assistantship Appointments & Other Employment.

Last updated on 7/22/09   wtm