Yes, medical teaching here is more observational. But you can always ask to learn/practice clinical skills things (especially if your intern/SHO is fishing around for something to teach). US hospitals employ medical students? That's news to me... You do need knowledge before you go and handle patients. Sometimes I wish clinical rotations were more hands-on, especially in medical rotations when you're in outpatients or ward rounds waiting around and feel all you're good for is holding up the wall. But you can create your own hands-on experiences as well (asking to be shown things, then once they see you have initiative they might let you do several on a routine basis). Some rotations lend themselves more to this than others (emergency, anesthesiology, etc.) Anyway, no complaints here, I don't feel I've been particularly deprived.
