Curriculum

Inova Health System has been teaching medical students for more than 50 years. It is home to 6 residency programs, several fellowships, and robust CME programming. The Inova Health System serves 2M+ patients in inpatient and outpatient centers each year, with more than 1,900 hospital beds spanning 7 hospitals. Inova Fairfax Medical Campus (IFMC) is a Level 1 trauma center with approximately 140,000 Emergency Department visits per year. IFMC is a high-volume tertiary care center serving a diverse patient population and has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the #1 hospital in the Washington, DC metro area. IFMC is home to top-rated clinical facilities – the Women and Children’s Hospital with > 10,000 deliveries/year and a level 4 NICU which accommodates up to 108 beds, the Schar Cancer Institute, the Inova Heart and Vascular Institute, and faculty who take pride in their dedication to education, clinical excellence providing person-centered care, research, and community outreach.

With the creation of a strategic partnership with the University of Virginia SoM, Inova Health System builds on its strong educational foundation with the UVA School of Medicine-Inova Campus, a regional medical education campus. For UVA medical students, the Inova Medical Campus has been a popular clinical teaching affiliate in pediatrics for almost two decades.

The regional campus offers 36 medical students per class the opportunity to receive their clinical training at Inova throughout Phase 2 (clerkships) and Phase 3 (post-clerkship). The combination of smaller class size and faculty-to-student ratio, busy and ethnically diverse patient population, state of the art hospital facilities, and a committed teaching faculty has created an exceptional learning environment for our medical students.

Program FAQ

This new relationship affords the School of Medicine many unique opportunities, not the least of which is to provide our students clinical experience in one of the best hospitals in the country with a long tradition of educating medical students and residents. Northern Virginia is one of the fastest-growing areas in the country and serves a diverse patient population.

The inpatient and outpatient clinical clerkship experience during Phase 2 will be primarily at IFMC and outpatient clinics within the surrounding community. The Phase 3 or Post-Clerkship curriculum will include a required Emergency Medicine Course at IFMC, required ACEs (Advanced Clinical Electives), ICU rotations, and electives at Inova Health System or the main campus in Charlottesville. These rotations will be available through the lottery system and open to students on both campuses.

The curriculum, grading, and assessments across the Phase 2 and 3 curricula will be identical at the main and regional campuses.

Students who attend the regional campus at Inova will be students of the University of Virginia, which will be stated on their diploma.

Education through Simulation: ICAMS

The Inova Center for Advanced Medical Simulation (ICAMS) is a 12,000 square foot state-of-the-art simulation center that serves the Inova Health System in advancing patient care through inter-professional education of healthcare workers. We have seen hundreds of physicians, residents, medical students; nurses and allied healthcare workers pass through our doors. We encourage new ideas, research, repeated practice and strategies to reduce potential errors in a safe learning environment that includes technologically advanced instructional methods.

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The mock-hospital wing contains the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Neonatal ICU (NICU), two Medical/Surgical rooms, and a Labor and Delivery Room with an infant alcove. In addition, our Operating Room is located just around the corner from the mock-hospital entrance. These six rooms provide healthcare teams an opportunity to practice teamwork, communication, and patient care in an exact replica of their clinical environment. Our six Clinical Education Theater rooms contain all the necessary equipment to conduct an outpatient office encounter, but can be converted to resemble an inpatient room as well.

Every medical student clerkship rotation, as well as some electives, incorporates a simulation activity. These include learning skills such as lumbar punctures, airway management, how to deliver babies and much more. Students also participate in multi-disciplinary teamwork simulations for emergencies such as cardiac arrests, hemorrhage, seizures and critical care events. The simulation center is a safe learning environment to practice communication skills with standardized patient actors for difficult conversations such as the death of a loved one. Medical students are prepared for the real world through the use of clinical performance exams (CPEs) that provide valuable feedback from both faculty and standardized patients. ICAMS works collaboratively with the UVA Clinical Skills Center and other regional medical schools to ensure that medical students are assessed in a fair and standardized manner. These sessions prepare students for their final clinical skills examinations required for graduation.

Surgical Training: ASTEC

In addition to ICAMS, Inova's Advanced Surgical Technology and Education Center (ASTEC) is the most technologically advanced surgery simulation facility in the region. The center provides surgeons, surgical residents and surgical teams unsurpassed real-time surgical training and education to improve skills, allow for observation and evaluation, and provide teambuilding opportunities to benefit patient care and safety.

Learn more about ICAMS and ASTEC

Simulation Training FAQ

Depending on the clerkship rotation, medical students spend an average of 4-8 hours per week in the simulation center.

Yes, medical students are involved in programs with other learners such as nursing, pharmacy and allied health students.

Yes, during regular business hours medical students may contact ICAMS regarding availability to use task trainers and manikins to fine tune their skills and prepare for clinical exams. The simulation center also makes suture practice boards for students to keep and practice their suture skills at home.

Yes, videotaping occurs during programs such as objective structured clinical examinations for quality control and to ensure accuracy of grading. Videos that are part of the student’s educational record are protected by FERPA and are disposed of in accordance with AAMC guidelines.
Yes, fourth-year medical students may request an elective rotation at the simulation center. Elective students learn how to design and run simulation programs and may do a research project.