Living Life on the Edge…of the GHS Campus

One of the most convenient aspects of being at USC School of Medicine Greenville is that the school is actually on the campus of Greenville Memorial Hospital (about a two-minute stroll to the main entrance). Living on the edge of the hospital opens up a variety of opportunities that we med students would not have otherwise.

Of course, you’re thinking patients. There’s that, but one of the most appreciated opportunities on a day-to-day basis is the lunch/dinner/late night study break snack availability. The hospital has Chick-fil-A, Subway, Starbucks, a bakery, and a cafeteria with a great variety of hot meals each day. The convenience of being able to run over and grab a bite to eat cannot be overstated. It’s not uncommon to run into some of the physician faculty in the dining area as well, which usually results in a nice chat about how classes are going.

Living on the edge of Greenville Memorial Hospital also impacts our curriculum. Many of the lecturers and leaders of the practical sessions are clinical physicians who work on a daily basis at the hospital. As such, they’re able to relate to us on a practical level with patients that they’ve seen over their career and even in the hours leading up to class.  Over the next year-and-a-half as we continue through two classroom years as M1’s and M2’s, we will be making the journey over to the hospital on a regular basis as part of our curriculum for Medicine and Society. This course focuses on patient care, medical knowledge, professionalism, interpersonal and communication skills, systems-based practice, and practice-based learning and improvement.

A few weeks ago, we made our first trip into the clinical setting of the hospital as we had the opportunity to sit down with a real patient and take a patient history. It’s these interactions that make USC School of Medicine Greenville a revolutionary school that is committed to transforming med school.

By Eric Fulmer