June term helps students prepare for rotations

Matt Stottle practices suturing on a pig’s foot.

Matt Stottle threaded the needle and slid a single black stitch into taut, pink skin.

Within minutes, a zipper of black X’s covered the incision.

“We’ve been in the classroom for two years learning all the theory, so to finally start applying it is exciting,” Stottle said.

Even if it means practicing sutures on a pig’s foot, he said.

Stottle, a third-year medical student who started his clinical rotation Tuesday, recently spent three full days learning basic clinical skills during an intense, hands-on instructional course known as “June Term.” All third-year medical students – approximately 120 in all — are required to attend and participate in the course, which was June 28-30.

Across campus, students practiced basic clinical procedures on each other including starting intravenous lines, inserting nasogastric (NG) tubes, giving injections, reading electrocardiograms and testing for arterial blood gases.

Jessica Donner, right, gives an injection (of saline solution) to her friend and classmate, Quinn Saigh.

Faculty members, volunteer nurses and fourth-year medical students assisted with the instruction, which also included such topics as urinary catheters, aseptic techniques, tracheal suctioning, infection control, professional conduct and informatics.

“Getting hands-on, practical experience helps calm the nerves before we start seeing patients,” said Stephanie Schutte of Bellevue.

The preparatory sessions also boost the students’ compassion and empathy levels, said Kurtis Cornish, Ph.D., who has coordinated June Term since 1998. “The students know what it feels like to put have an NG tube put down,” he said.

“It’s been interesting and exciting,” said Quinn Saigh, the daughter of UNMC radiologist Jean Saigh, M.D. “If we’re more confident in our skills, our patients will be more comfortable.”

When it comes to educating students on how to insert nasogastric tubes, Dr. Cornish is a frequent volunteer.

June Term also helps students meet a procedural skills requirement for graduation, which was approved in March 1995. Under the policy, students are required to learn a specified procedure, and then demonstrate their ability to properly do it a set number of times before graduating.