Bassett offers educational experiences for students at all levels. First and second year medical students may participate in programs offered by the Bassett Research Institute, while third and fourth year students may rotate to Bassett as part of a required clerkship or elective experience in one of more than thirty areas of study.

Surgical Clerkship at Bassett

Rounds are made twice daily under the supervision of the Chief or senior resident. Daily admissions to the Surgical Service average eight to ten. Daily census is approximately 50 patients and varies seasonally. There are twelve PA's who provide assistance on the floor and in the surgical subspecialties. Each Team has a Team Clinic, Yellow meets on Monday, Blue meets on Thursday.

Students rotate for a four to five week period at Bassett Hospital. They are considered an integral part of the Surgical Service and are expected to actively participate in patient care. They will perform a history and physical exam to be reviewed by the resident staff. They will follow their patients, write daily notes and aid in planning their management in the pre and postoperative period. They will scrub on interesting cases daily, assignment to be made by the Chief surgical resident. They will attend all surgical conferences with the resident staff. The students will attend their team clinics. The primary focus of all their activities is the development of a firm understanding of basic surgical principles that will serve them for the rest of their medical careers regardless of ultimate specialty.

A preceptor assigned to the General Surgical Staff on a rotating basis will supervise the student's rotation at Bassett Healthcare. The preceptor will be available on a daily basis to discuss interesting cases or any problems should they arise. The preceptor will meet with the students twice weekly both for informal clinical discussions and formal case presentations. Each student will present one case per week (for a total of four cases of varied pathology) to the preceptor in the designated format. The students will meet with the Chief of Surgery for a teaching conference weekly. Case presentations will be prepared to contain: a complete history and physical exam; a review of pertinent x-rays; a review of hospital course and operation; and finally a succinct summary of pathophysiology and surgical management of a specific surgical problem.

The students will take call every fourth night with the junior surgical housestaff. Night call will end at 11:00pm, however, if an interesting problem should present later in the evening the student would be expected to participate in the care of the patient. At the start of the rotation, students are to go to the OR to learn proper scrub technique. Lockers will be assigned if available.

Grades will be determined by the Chief Resident and Program Director based on the case presentations and clinical performance. A discussion of the grade earned will occur on the last day of rotation after an exit interview is completed.

Medicine Clerkship at Bassett

Students should follow approximately 2 - 4 patients at a time, with no more than two admissions in a day. In fact, the intern will be assigned for supervising . Students should work closely with the Intern on these cases, assisting in writing daily notes (co-signed), tracking down studies, presenting at attending rounds, etc. Students cannot provide verbal orders. Students cannot write co-signed orders. Students are expected to pre-round, presenting pertinent information during housestaff rounds, (with the intern and resident). Cases will include: any new patients assigned by the resident on day one, plus all new patient work-ups thereafter (three cases per week). All patients must have an exhaustive admission note by the student (the intern will also write an admission note and daily note). Student admission work-ups will also be included in the chart (original), with a copy to the Preceptor. Admission work-ups are to be completed on blank progress note sheets, and not on the admission work-up form. The student will write a daily SOAP note as well.

On-Call Schedule

Students are expected to be available Monday - Friday and on the weekend long call day. Students are required to take call with a member of their team at a minimum of every fourth night, but no later than 10:30 p.m. on any night. 

Procedures

Students are cleared for phlebotomy only. All other procedures are available if properly supervised. Students should be encouraged to place I.V.'s (supervised) and to draw blood on their patients, if so willing.

Preceptors

Students are assigned an attending preceptor. They are scheduled for a mandatory meeting with their preceptor one or two days per week.

Primary Care Clerkship at Bassett

Goal: Through experience caring for patients under the supervision of primary care physicians, through written and oral exercises, and through required readings in primary care textbooks and the relevant medical literature, students will learn the basics of primary care

Faculty for the Primary Care Clerkship is drawn from the fields of Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Family Medicine. Students will see patients under the supervision of one or more clinical preceptors. Each student, however, will be assigned a principal preceptor who is responsible for overseeing the student's learning experience, and coordinating the evaluation. In addition to clinical work, students will attend and participate in all scheduled didactic sessions at their sites.

A formal affiliation with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University has existed since 1947. Students from Columbia have traditionally elected to spend one or more months at Bassett Hospital. These students are drawn to the practice of medicine in a rural multispecialty group setting with one hundred eighty six faculty members available for teaching on site daily. Columbia students consistently rate their electives as excellent to outstanding with the variety of pathology, strong teaching, and organization of the Hospital as main strengths.

One-third of Columbia's third-year students complete a required rotation in Primary Care Medicine on the Cooperstown campus and in our Regional Health Centers. Since 1999, Columbia third-year students have also completed a required Surgery rotation at Bassett.

Third-year students from Albany Medical College began required rotations to Bassett in the fall of 1988. Two Albany students per month visit Cooperstown in the Medicine III clerkship. This program has been enthusiastically received both at Bassett and in Albany. Albany students may also complete their required ICU clerkship at Bassett.  The Albany PA Program and the Daemen PA Program send PA students for rotations in Emergency Medicine and Surgery. 

The University of Rochester School of Medicine sends students for their surgical clerkship to Bassett.  Students work with 28 surgeons who practice all disciplines of surgery.

During the early 1980s, an affiliation was developed with SUNY Health Sciences Center at Syracuse, for fourth-year student electives in the departments of medicine and pediatrics. 

An affiliation with University of New England, College of Osteopathic Medicine, UNECOM, was established in 1998. The Leatherstocking Clinical Education Center was formed in a combined effort with St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica, New York. Currently, eight to twelve students complete third-year clerkships at Bassett in the following disciplines; Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Pediatrics.  In 2005 we expanded the clerkship program to include three Family Practice rotations.  The UNECOM clerkships are unique in that the students assigned to the Leatherstocking Clinical Education Center rotate through their clerkships in Cooperstown and Utica rather than moving to many different hospitals creating a continuity in teaching and learning.

In 2003, an affiliation was created with the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, LECOM, and the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, NYCOM, to send one, third year student each rotation for their Internal Medicine Clerkship.  Also, in 2003, the University of Rochester began sending two students each rotation for Internal Medicine, bringing the total number of students completing Internal Medicine rotations at Bassett to eight.

Students from all other LCME and AOA medical schools are encouraged to elect rotations at the Hospital. Contact Leann Smith, Medical Education Specialist, 1-888-547-6349.

Cooperstown is located in central New York, 70 miles west of Albany and 30 miles south of the New York State Thruway. From the west, use Thruway Exit 30 at Herkimer (Rt. 28); from the east, Thruway Exit 25A at Rt. I-88 (to Rts. 20 and 80). From the south use Rts. I-88 and 28 (Binghamton-Oneonta-Cooperstown); from the southeast, Thruway Exit 21 (Catskill), use Rts. 145, 20, and 80. Other scenic drives are possible along Rt. 20 east or west and Rt. 28 through the Catskill Mountains. Both the Onondaga International Airport in Syracuse and the Albany International Airport in Albany are major air terminals providing transportation to the entire Northeast.

By bus: The Pine Hill Trailways provides round-trip bus service between Cooperstown and New York City (Port Authority Bus Terminal), as well as to Utica. Numbers to call include: 800-858-8555, 212-947-8484 (NYC), or 607-432-2661 (Oneonta). Vans Transportation, Inc., also offers shuttle service between Cooperstown and New York City; 1-800-607-2753.

Requirements - all students must have professional liability insurance and health insurance personally or provided through their medical school, approval and recommendation of the student's dean, standard health and immunization status assessment, and proof of OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen training and Respirator Mask Fit.

Single housing is provided at no cost to the student.

On-call meals are provided only when students are required to remain in the hospital on duty with their team.

Membership at the Clark Sports Center is available to students through the Sports Center at a reduced rate.

Services Available - A computer center with Internet access (including PCs) and the hospital's medical library are open 24 hours a day.