Learn How to Think Clinically with the New Osmosis Clinical Sciences Library

The Osmosis Clinical Sciences library helps prepare you for the clinical management of patients by watching the videos we all know and love that guide you through clinical decision-making trees and completing paired board-style assessment items. These Learn pages are aligned to core clerkship curricula and made by experts in each specialty (including active clerkship directors for curriculum design and content review), so you can be confident you're watching what you need to know to succeed on your rotations and exams. Everyone at Osmosis is passionate about making learning simple and enjoyable, so we made sure that this series is approachable for a first-time clinical learner.

We hope that the new Clinical Sciences library will help you start thinking clinically from day one to patient one and beyond!

What Is a Spiral Curriculum and How Does It Help Healthcare Students Learn?

American psychologist and researcher Jerome Bruner believed nothing is too complicated to learn if it's structured properly. To that end, Bruner introduced a new learning theory called a spiral curriculum in his book, The Process of Education, in 1960. Sometimes referred to as "spaced learning," a spiral curriculum is best explained by its three guiding principles:

1. Cyclical learning: A student revisits the same topic multiple times using different learning methods.
2. Increasing depth: The complexity of the topic increases with each revisit, adding layers of information each time.
3. Learning by building on prior knowledge: New topics are put into the context of the topic, ensuring that nothing exists in isolation.

Being A Helpful MS4 to the Underclassmen On Your Rotation

When you reach your fourth year, sub-internships (sub-Is) are chances for you to learn and to practice the skills you will need in a few months as an intern. Jenny Nguyen has always admired how her residents can handle large patient loads with teaching so flawlessly. She set out to try and learn how she could be a more effective teacher to her underclassmen during her sub-I. Read the full blog to learn about some of the things she tried.

Clinical Rotations: Expectations vs Reality

The ideas and expectations of what actually happens in a hospital are largely shaped by medical dramas and what other people tell you. What we see and what we’re told are both daunting and exciting. Is the hierarchy really that prevalent? Are bullying and pimping as common as I think? Is there a team of McDreamys floating around or are most people like JD and Turk?

Most pre-clinical students have a familiar yet foreign idea of how a hospital works. In this blog, Kieren talks through what he expected going into a hospital for the first time and how this matched with what actually happened during his first week.

Tips for Transitioning from Your Preclinical to Clinical Years in Medical School

Clinic years of medical school are vastly different than the preclinical years and require new study habits, work styles, and a lot more people skills. This blog post will acknowledge the big shock that is third year, identify some tips and tricks, and remind students that they are not alone on this crazy med school journey.