The Branches
Flexible framework for lifelong learning.
The M3 and M4 year, collectively known as the Branches, will prepare you for residency and continue you on the path to being a physician making meaningful impact in your area of interest.
Key features of the Branches include:
- Working one-on-one with a Branch advisor to define your area of interest and create your individualized development plan
- Refining clinical skills through a variety of required and optional electives
- Working on and completing a Capstone for Impact
- Continued support and guidance by your entire team of advisors, directors, mentors, coaches and counselors
The Branches offer so much flexibility to shape our own clinical training. We have 19 whole months to hash out our specialties and hone our clinical skills through Branches electives. It's easy to take time to do research or pursue a dual degree. All the opportunities are there for us to take, and the curriculum encourages us to expand our horizons."
Focus is on delivery of team-based care and the incorporation of population health into all Branch rotations with a concentration on public health, public policy and advocacy outreach.
- Introduction to Patients and Populations: Immersive curriculum presented during the M3 Branch Launch focused on core principles of population health, social determinants of health and public health, utilizing lectures by health system leaders, multi-specialty case presentations and community field trips.
- Longitudinal Clinic Experience: 6-month or 12-month immersion into team-based care. Students have continuity with preceptor and patient panel allowing in-depth patient care experience working alongside pharmacists, social workers, care managers, etc., to care for patients.
Focus is on patient-centered approaches to engage technology in clinical care and the use of advanced technologies in the diagnosis and therapy of disease
- Ultrasound Curriculum: Led by Dr. Kate Klein and Dr. Will Kropf with collaborations from the Radiology and Emergency Radiology Depts. Sessions run during the Branch Launch.
- Disease Based Individually Arranged Elective: This optional experience is for students who want to understand a condition or disease in a multidisciplinary manner.
- Longitudinal Apprenticeship Experience (optional): Longitudinal one-on-one contact with a faculty member. This is a co-curricular experience and does not fulfill a graduation requirement.
Focus is on the delivery of technical and procedural aspects of complex patient care through a team-based approach
- Procedural skills training: Students engage in surgical and technical skills training exercises and competition.
- Deep dive into procedural topics: Expert-facilitated discussions on higher-order topics related to procedural care of complex patients such as procedural ethics and payment for medical care from a patient perspective. Sessions occur during Spring Conference.
- Longitudinal Apprenticeship Experience (optional): Longitudinal one-on-one contact with a faculty member. This is a co-curricular experience and does not fulfill a graduation requirement.
Focus is on delivery of patient-centered care of medically complex, hospitalized patients with concentration on patient outcomes, patient safety and quality improvement
- A3 curriculum: Student-led quality improvement exercise during Branch Launch, facilitated by Continuous Quality Improvement specialists. Students will have the opportunity to turn the exercise into a CFI project.
- Mock code & procedural training: Led by Dr. Brittany Allen and facilitated by fellows and faculty, students engage in clinical simulation of cardiac and respiratory arrest scenarios, as well as simulation procedural training. Sessions occur during Branch Launch and Spring Conference.
- Longitudinal Apprenticeship Experience (optional): Longitudinal one-on-one contact with a faculty member. This is a co-curricular experience and does not fulfill a graduation requirement.
Our goal is to equip you with the skills to become a leader in societal health and make a significant impact globally and locally. We will teach you to understand and apply scientific principles, educate others, innovate, lead effectively, communicate clearly, ask insightful questions and inspire patients and the wider community."
Branch Launch is a four-week course that begins the discovery phase of the Branches. After Launch, you’ll have access to 200+ exploratory electives to help define your clinical focus and career pathway. These two- to four-week blocks can be clinical, non-clinical or research-related. You can even create your own individually arranged electives to match your specific interests, either now or later in the Branches.
If you choose to do a research elective in the early Branches, you will be eligible to apply for the Short Term Biomedical Research Training Program and conduct research in a broad range of interests. This 8-week program is funded by an NIH training grant and pays a stipend of $4,300. Students may select any University of Michigan faculty member as a mentor.
You’ll also continue to integrate core foundational science into your clinical practice. You will learn to ask why, digging deeper into the scientific principles behind clinical care.
- Health Systems Science - Focuses on topics such as health equity, health policy, value-based care, interprofessional teamwork and physician advocacy
- Patient-Based Scientific Inquiry - Involves formulating and answering focused questions to address unexplained decisions/outcomes based on one of your own cases. You’ll share the results of these inquiries through short presentations
- Other flexible, customizable activities related to the science and practice of medicine
Course content and context will vary by Branch, allowing you to develop core knowledge and skills in an area most relevant to your interests.
The Focus phase is an intense clinical time where most of the core clinical course requirements are met, including:
- 1 ICU SubInternship
- 1 Non-ICU SubInternship
- 1 Emergency Medicine Rotation
- 4 Four-Week Clinical Electives offered by 20+ Departments
Additional two-week electives are also available during this phase.
The Finishing phase is a time to continue taking electives, interview for residency, refine skills and wrap up your Capstone for Impact project.
Evaluation in the Branches
The Branches Competency Committee performs holistic review of student performance during the Branches with input from the student, clinical evaluators, Branch Advisor and Branch Director.
Residency Prep Courses
At the end of M4 year, you will take a Residency Prep Course in one the following areas: procedures, OB/GYN, internal medicine, pediatrics, family medicine or emergency medicine. These four- to eight-week courses are designed to immerse senior medical students in real-life scenarios that they will encounter in residency. Students gain confidence by developing practical skills through simulated paging exercises with RNs, mock codes in the Simulation Center and targeted didactics. Assessments provide essential feedback throughout your RPC and prepare you for day one of residency.
Please note, this diagram is provided for reference only. Curriculum details are subject to change.
