MS4 Catalog

Outpatient Internal Medicine Primary Care

LOCATION: Medical Group Practice, University Town Center, Morgantown, WV
PRECEPTOR: Dr. Tara Rickard, Dr. Andrea Labus, Dr. Kelley Gannon
DURATION: 4 weeks
OFFERED: Continuously
MAXIMUM ENROLLMENT: 2
STATUS: Elective

OBJECTIVES:

Throughout this course students will be re-familiarized with the outpatient clinical learning environment for primary care in the Department of Medicine. Students will work closely with the academic outpatient faculty and staff at the University Town Centre Clinic. Students will evaluate patients in clinic on a daily basis. Students will work in a collaborative practice model with residency-trained ambulatory care pharmacists, population health management, and our diabetes management team. Students will be exposed to primary care of all patients over the age of 18, as well as focus on the unique care that Primary Care Internal Medicine brings, allowing students to see, evaluate, and learn all aspects of the Internal Medicine subspecialties.

Patient Care:

  • Gather and interpreter an appropriate medical history, focused on outpatient primary care.
  • Perform an accurate and detailed history based on the needs of the patient in the outpatient setting.
  • Develop an appropriate plan for management of a variety of medical problems encountered in the outpatient setting.
  • Recognize the limits of outpatient management and need for a higher level of care including transfer to the emergency room or admission to the hospital.
  • Counsel and educate patients on the plan of care, including preventative care, diagnostic testing and therapeutic management through use of compassionate and evidence-based literature.
  • Provide patient care that is compassionate, safe, appropriate and effective for treatment of health problems.
  • Employ opportunities for early interventions to educate patients about disease prevention strategies taking into account barriers to change.

Medical Knowledge:

  • Recognize and describe normal and aberrant psychosocial and cognitive function in adults and geriatric patients.
  • Describe the principles of diagnosis, treatment and prevention in outpatient managed disease states.
  • Describe the principles of pharmacologic treatment and risks of side effects managed in the outpatient setting.

Practice-Based Learning:

  • Use information technology appropriately to manage information and support patient care decisions.
  • Demonstrate lifelong and self-directed learning by analyzing strengths, identifying learning needs, and incorporating feedback in reflective learning to improve all six core competencies.

Communication Skills:

  • Attentively listen to patient’s concerns.
  • Create and sustain a therapeutic and ethical relationship with patients and their families.
  • Communicate an accurate plan of care for the patients and their families in an effective and succinct way.
  • Answer questions regarding plan of care to patients and their families.
  • Accurately present a patient’s concerns in an encounter with a detailed, accurate and succinct nature.
  • Complete documentation in the electronic medical record in a timely, accurate, succinct and comprehensive manner.

Professionalism:

  • Demonstrate respect, compassion, integrity, and responsiveness through responding to other people’s thought and opinions.
  • Demonstrate sensitivity and responsiveness to diverse patient population, including but not limited to diversity in culture, national origin, age, gender, gender expression, gender identify, race, religion, disabilities, sexual orientation, veteran status and health.
  • Be timely in attending clinic and other clinical responsibilities.
  • Follow up on test results in a timely fashion including development of plan and communicating with patient.
  • Uphold and sustain the WVU School of Medicine code of professionalism.

Systems-Based Practice: 

  • Work collaboratively with healthcare professionals and demonstrate inter-professional collaboration to improve patient safety, outcomes and system performance.
  • Identify how prevention and treatment of healthcare disparities in the outpatient setting specifically affects patients, populations and the healthcare system.

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS:

Students will be required to meet the objectives of the Outpatient Internal Medicine Elective elective by the following:

  1. Will be assigned 4 patients per half day of clinic to appropriately pre-chart, evaluate, develop assessment/plan and counsel for a patient’s clinical visit.
  2. Students will be required to follow up on appropriate testing, including development of plan and discussion with patient’s staff regarding plan of care and communicate plan with patient.
  3. Work one half day per week with our outpatient diabetes management team.
  4. Work one half day per week with our outpatient pharmacist teams to learn about collaborative pharmacy practice.
  5. Attend noon conference daily via Zoom.
  6. Attend monthly Ambulatory Quality Council Meeting.

EXAMINATION PROCEDURES AND EVALUATION CRITERIA:

Formative Assessment:

Formative feedback will be given in the form of direct observation and feedback throughout the completion of the rotation.

Summative Assessment: 

Summative assessment will occur via supervising faculty by completing a narrative e-valuation in e*Value as well as completion of weekly reflections based upon the effort given. Narrative evaluation will be based on the above competency objectives as listed above.

PRIOR TO THE FIRST DAY OF THE ROTATION:

Please contact Dr. Tara Rickard, tara.rickard@hsc.wvu.edu at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the rotation to ensure timely confirmation of the student's schedule.