CWRU is broadening the medical school student experience by augmenting its regular neuroscience clerkship program with a rotation to a post-acute care setting.

Once each month, students board a small bus and travel to UHHS/Heather Hill Hospital and Health Partnership in Chardon, about 25 miles east of Cleveland, to observe, listen and ask questions about a wide range of neurological disorders from patients discharged from their acute care hospital stay.

Medical schools have long understood the value of exposing their students to real-life hospital activity as part of the curriculum, but, for the most part, these experiences have not included long-term care facilities.

"A lot of medical students shape their view of stroke patients based on experience in a tertiary care facility,"said David Preston, associate professor of neurology at CWRU and clerkship director for neurosciences at University Hospitals of Cleveland. "With the trend toward shorter hospital stays, students may only see the sickest patients.

"When the student sees the same patient several weeks later in a rehabilitation setting like Heather Hill,"Preston continued, "they're often amazed at the substantial progress that's been made. It really demonstrates the benefits of comprehensive rehabilitation and therapy."

During a visit to Heather Hill, students are under the tutelage of Alan Lerner, associate professor of neurology at CWRU and chief of neurology services at Heather Hill. Students attend an overview presentation, participate in patient rounds with Lerner and observe the Heather Hill physical, occupational and speech therapy staff.

"This program represents one of the best opportunities students have in their medical school education to learn about the post-acute care rehabilitation process," Lerner said. "It gives them a clearer picture of the challenges faced by patients following a stroke or traumatic head injury. For example, it shows that a neurological disease doesn't have to be a life sentence people do recover."

Preston agrees and explains that the Heather Hill clerkship experience fills an important need for students who have not previously been exposed to rehabilitation.

"Rehabilitation is a very important part of the healing process," he said. "And intensive therapy is something that Heather Hill does so well."

This educational opportunity came about after Heather Hill, a 250-bed facility offering long-term acute care, skilled nursing, sub-acute care and assisted living, entered into partnership with University Hospitals Health System in 2000. Heather Hill can be found on the Web at www.heatherhill.org.