General Internal Medicine Objectives

 Educational Purpose and Goals
 Procedures
 Teaching Methods
 Mix of Diseases
 Supervision
 Evaluation of Competence

 GIM Cases
 Objectives & Cases Index

Educational Purposes and Goals

The General Medicine inpatient rotation at MUH is designed to give Internal Medicine students a broad-based experience in managing acutely ill General Medicine patients.  The experience is designed to develop the clinical skills necessary to diagnose and treat a wide range of illnesses. During the rotation, the student will have the opportunity for the following:

1. To enhance history taking and physical diagnosis skills.
   
   
2. To develop a differential diagnoses and formulate a treatment plan on acutely ill patients.
   
   
3. To manage the inpatient illnesses which are commonly cared for by the general internist.
   
   
4. To understand the indications/need for appropriate subspecialty consultation.
   
   
5. To demonstrate interpersonal skills and communicate effectively with patients and families.
   
   
6. To understand appropriate pain control and the tenets of palliative/end of life care.

Common procedures for the General Internist include central venous access placement, paracentesis, arterial blood sampling, lumbar puncture, EKG interpretation, chest Xray interpretation and others.  Medical students are encouraged to participate in all procedures on the patients on the General Medicine rotation. 

Mix of Diseases

Students will provide direct care to a wide variety of clinical syndromes including chest pain, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, sickle cell disease, diabetic ketoacidosis, COPD, pneumonia, asthma, CVA’s, dementia, HIV/AIDS, SLE, vasculitis, acute and chronic renal insufficiency, and many others.  The General Medicine service also cares for a wide diversity of patients with respect to age, ethnicity, gender and socioeconomic status.

Medical students have access to all major internal medicine textbooks, both in print in the library and online.  Students are expected to consult the medical literature pertaining to their individual patients.

There are 4 General Medicine teams at MUH, each consisting of two 3^rd year medical students, a fourth year medical student, two PGY1 residents, a PGY 2 or 3 resident, and the attending physician.  The rotation provides each member with graduated autonomy combined with direct observation by expert faculty. 

Students are evaluated by the Attendings and Residents assigned to the service for that month.  The eleven areas in which students are evaluated are:  Professionalism, Team Work, Interpersonal and Communication Skills with Patients, Motivation towards Learning, History taking, Physical Exam, Knowledge Base, Differential Diagnosis, Problem Solving/Management Plan, Presentation skills, and Procedural Skills - if applicable.  Evaluations are completed in the E*value system after the completion of the rotation.