The second phase of the curriculum, the clinical core, includes seven five-week rotations in required primary care areas (fall and spring semesters). During this phase of the program, all students participate in supervised patient care, teaching rounds, and medical-surgical conferences as they rotate on various services in Atlanta and other established clinical facilities around the state and the Southeast. In keeping with the mission of the program, students are exposed to a variety of practice settings and patient populations.

Clinical rotation sites affiliated with the Emory Healthcare system as well as outside the Emory system are utilized to provide a variety of clinical opportunities for the PA student. The PA program places emphasis on clinical experience in medically underserved areas. During the clinical core, all students will be required to experience at least two rotations in clinical settings designated as medically underserved. In order to assure a variety of clinical settings, all students are required to experience at least two rotations in clinical sites outside the Atlanta area.

During the clinical core experience, students are able to build the primary care knowledge and skill base necessary to function in all fields of clinical practice. They also gain exposure to a variety of clinical settings that enables them to make a more informed decision regarding the type of clinical practice they may wish to pursue upon completion of the program.

Following the clinical core experience, students enter an eighteen-week advanced clinical  phase. The student may choose to do the entire eighteen-week period in primary care disciplines. Alternatively, the student may elect to experience one four-week rotation in a medical subspecialty discipline and one four-week elective in any discipline in addition to the eight weeks of primary care. The two-week mini-elective may be in any discipline or may be used to extend any four-week rotation.

Listen to what one recent graduate had to say about her clinical training at Emory.