Office of Community Engagement l Health Equity Programs, School of Medicine
Visiting Clerkship Program
Population Health and Health Disparities, 2025
As a partnership between the Office of Community Engagement and the LSU Health Science Center’s Baton Rouge Regional Campus Clinical Departments (Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Psychiatry and Emergency Medicine), we are pleased to sponsor an opportunity for fourth-year medical students who plan a career in one of the indicated clinical specialties and who wish to experience clinical rotations in our academic medical center. Students should demonstrate a strong genuine interest in clinical leadership with a focus on addressing the impacts of social determinants of health, and population health, for medically challenged communities.
The LSU Health Sciences Center, Baton Rouge historically serves a large, metropolitan community, with many under-resourced neighborhoods, challenged by the social determinants of health, and are affected by health disparities. The historic mission of our training institution has been to care for every member of our community, regardless of station or situation. The academic mission pf LSU Health Sciences is to foster professional development designed to prepare trainees to advance health equity for all patient communities in Louisiana, and develop skills in cultural respect for the next generation physicians who will provide excellence in healthcare for a wide range of patient communities.
Students selected for the program will receive:
- Travel assistance to Baton Rouge (up to $1,500, local travel accommodations are not included)
- Housing assistance in student residential facility near the medical corridor
- A resident and faculty mentor who will meet with that student during their rotation, to provide career and professional guidance as well as a personal connection to the community
Students will participate in advanced clinical electives along with our LSU students completing traditional 4-week rotations for senior students planning to match in their specialty of interest.
Requirements:
- Students must be entering their final year of medical school at an accredited, U.S. institution, and must have completed all their required core rotations (Medicine, Pediatrics, OB, Surgery, Psychiatry) prior to beginning the clerkship.
- Students are requested to include a brief (no more than 500 words) personal statement
describing their interest in LSU, Baton Rouge and their selected clinical specialty
discipline, and answer brief questions related to their experience with population
health (see below).
- What strengths do you possess that you feel will make you a strong resident in your chosen clinical specialty and as a future physician leader? What do you wish to work on/develop more fully?
- How do you think the social determinants of health impact patients in the specialty area that you are choosing to pursue?
- Current CV and Application form as required by the specific program.
- Submission of formal LSUHSC Emergency Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Psychiatry or Internal Medicine visiting clerkship application on VSLO, with all institutional requirements (immunization forms, malpractice, etc.) met.
The number of students selected for visiting rotations in a clinical specialty will be strictly determined by each department. Students considered as finalists for the visiting clerkship may receive the opportunity for residency program interview consideration, but this is not guaranteed.
Please submit a complete application via the departmental web links:
- Emergency Medicine: Carrie Hebert chebe5@lsuhsc.edu 225-757-4140
- Internal Medicine: Melissa Lightfoot mligh2@lsuhsc.edu 225-757-4070
- Obstetrics and Gynecology: Amanda Blackburn amcran@lsuhsc.edu 225 215-7442
- Psychiatry: Lakeysha Deloch ldeloc@lsuhsc.edu 225-757-4212
Program questions may also be forwarded to:
Miranda Mitchell, MD, FACP, Director of the Office of Community Engagement and Health Equity Programs—Baton Rouge Branch Campus mmitch@lsuhsc.edu.