Internal Medicine Hands-On Inpatient/Outpatient Rotation in Chicago, Illinois

Rotation Description

Professional Development: 

1. Communication Skills:
   Improving communication skills, including effectively explaining diagnoses and treatment plans to patients and their families.

   Practicing how to handle difficult conversations, such as discussing poor prognoses or delivering bad news empathetically.

2. Time Management and Efficiency:

   Learning to manage a busy outpatient schedule, including balancing the need for thorough patient care with the realities of time constraints. Developing strategies for efficient documentation and follow-up care.

3. Ethical and Professional Conduct:
   Upholding high standards of professionalism, including patient confidentiality, informed consent, and ethical decision-making.
   Cultivating a compassionate approach to patient care, building trust, and fostering long-term patient relationships.

Clinical Skills:

1. Patient History and Physical Examination:
   Conducting comprehensive and focused patient interviews to gather detailed medical histories.

   Performing thorough and focused physical examinations tailored to the patient’s presenting complaints.

2. Diagnostic and Management Skills:
   Ordering and interpreting appropriate laboratory tests, imaging studies, and other diagnostic procedures.
   Developing differential diagnoses and formulating evidence-based management plans for a wide range of conditions.

   Monitoring and adjusting treatments for chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and asthma.

3. Preventive Care and Health Maintenance:
   Emphasizing preventive medicine through vaccinations, screenings (e.g., mammograms, colonoscopies), and lifestyle counseling. Educating patients about diet, exercise, smoking cessation, and other lifestyle modifications to promote health and prevent disease.

Acute Care Skills:

• Admission and Discharge: Learning the process of admitting patients to the hospital, including obtaining relevant history and formulating initial management plans. Also, understanding the discharge process and planning for post-hospitalization care.
• Monitoring: Learning to monitor and manage patients in acute settings, including interpreting vital signs, laboratory results, and imaging studies to guide treatment decisions.
• Discussion: Engaging in discussions about differential diagnoses, treatment options, and evidence-based
  medicine with the medical team.