Program Overview

Introduction to the Internal Medicine Program

The Internal Medicine program is designed to provide students with a comprehensive education in the field of internal medicine. The program is based on a twelve-week core clerkship that takes place in acute care medical centers or accredited ambulatory care facilities.

Mission and Introduction

The mission of the Internal Medicine program is to teach students a logical and humanistic approach to patients and their problems. This approach begins with a presenting complaint, followed by a comprehensive history and physical examination, and culminates in the formulation of a problem list, assessment, and plan.

Guidelines

The program guidelines include:

• Length: Twelve weeks
• Site: In-hospital medical services and out-patient facilities
• Orientation: Introduction to key faculty and coordinators, tour of facilities, distribution of schedules, and discussion of expectations and responsibilities
• Schedule: All day Monday through Friday, with night, weekend, and holiday call with residency teams as assigned
• Attending rounds: At least three times per week
• Teaching conferences: Grand rounds, subspecialty conferences, and didactic sessions
• Preceptor sessions: At least four hours per week, including case presentation and bedside rounds

Educational Objectives

The educational objectives of the Internal Medicine program include:

• Medical knowledge: Demonstrate knowledge of principal syndromes and illnesses, diagnostic and therapeutic options, and cognitive processes inherent in clinical reasoning
• Clinical skills: Take a comprehensive history, perform a complete physical exam, formulate a problem list and differential diagnosis, and articulate a therapeutic plan
• Communication skills: Verbal and written competence in case presentation, explaining diagnostic and therapeutic plans, and informed consent
• Professional behavior: Demonstrate a regimen of independent learning, identify personal strengths and limitations, and demonstrate a commitment to quality and patient safety

Core Topics and Patients

Students should make every effort to see patients with conditions listed below, including:

• The healthy patient: health promotion and education, disease prevention and screening
• Patients with a symptom, sign, or abnormal laboratory value
• Patients presenting with a known medical condition

Reading

Reading should proceed on four levels, each with a different goal:

• Reading about patients to develop a deeper understanding of comprehensive issues
• Systematic and thorough reading about the overall field of internal medicine
• Detailed in-depth reading about specific topics of interest and for assignments
• Review of basic science and relevant research to reinforce fundamental principles of clinical medicine

Web-Based Educational Assignments

The school requires the successful completion of web-based assignments, including:

• SGUSOM's curriculum on AMBOSS
• UWorld
• Communication modules
• Ethics Modules
• Geriatrics readings

Required Clinical Encounters and Patient Encounter Log

The faculty in each specialty have identified specific clinical experiences that are a requirement for the clerkship. The Patient Encounter Log (PEL) program is designed to track each student's patient encounters, clinical setting, and level of responsibility.