DOC-3: The Patient with Chronic Care Needs
Curriculum > Medicine 4 > DOC-3: The Patient with Chronic Care Needs
Definition of the DOC-3 Patient:
The DOC-3 patient is defined as the patient with a chronic condition which may of may not be debilitating, but requires an interdisciplinary approach to its care. The focus of the DOC-3 selective should be on the care of the patients with chronic care needs the assurance of quality of life, and the maintenance of patient function, not the therapy of a given disease state.
Goals:
- The student will become familiar with the care of the patient with chronic care needs. The focus of this care should be the maintenance of function and the maximization of quality of life over time.
- The student will understand the community and ancillary resources which are available to improve the quality of life for the patient with chronic care needs.
- The student will be provided with exposure to the interrelationships between the patient with chronic disability and his/her family and socioeconomic environment.
- The student will participate in an interdisciplinary approach to caring for the patient with chronic disability that includes physicians and other health care providers. Physicians' roles in this interdisciplinary approach should be emphasized.
- Understand the importance of home care for acute and chronic care patients and learn about resources available for interdisciplinary management of patients through medical, environmental and care giver assessments and interventions.
Prerequisites:
Internal Medicine, Ob/Gyn, Surgery, Pediatrics, and Psychiatry core clerkships.
Clinical Experience:
The DOC-3 clinical experiences will be broad-based and will include a wide variety of practice arenas both on campus and throughout the community. Clinical sites will range from those that focus on chronic pain to the chronically or terminally ill. Other experiences will highlight chronic musculoskeletal problems, rehabilitation, or cognitive disorders. Still others will concentrate on age specific populations such as older adults or chronically ill children.
Other clinical experiences may also be included in the DOC-3 selective, either alone or in combination with other clinical sites. The DOC-3 selective will center its experience and teaching on the care of the whole patient and the assurance of quality of life, not the care of a given disease state. An interdisciplinary approach is preferred, and emphasis on the patient's function outside the clinic is very important.
A minimum of 30 hours a week of clinical experience is mandatory.
There are many activities, which may or may not be departmentally specific which are appropriate for DOC-3. Each department's DOC-3 clinical activities will be reviewed to determine if the clinical experience meet the goals outlined in this template. It is important to give the students substantial responsibilities, especially ones related to patient care. Students must be active in the rotation, not passive. Observational experiences are discouraged.
Opportunity for independent study is available as a DOC-3. Contact the DOC-3 coordinator at 293-4971 for further information.
Didactic Experience:
A half-day orientation/overview is held on the morning of the first day of the clerkship. For the remaining three weeks, there is one half-day didactic session per week. Case-oriented and hands-on activities are emphasized; lectures are minimal. Attendance at all didactic sessions is required.
Evaluation Methods:
Evaluation components include clinical performance evaluations, quizzes over assigned readings, attendance and participation, and a standardized patient evaluation experience.
Course Administration:
Student Assignments: Students will be assigned to their clinical sites by the College of Medicine Computerized Scheduling System.
PLEASE NOTE: All rotations must be finalized 30 days before the rotation is scheduled to begin. Any schedule changes initiated less than 30 days before a rotations start date must be approved by the DOC-3 coordinator as well as any departments that are invovled.
Course Director:
Don Batisky, M.D., Pediatric Nephrology
Bonnie Kantor, Sc.D., Office of Geriatrics and Gerontology
Grade Administration:
Determined by the DOC-3 grading committee.
An online course catalog of the DOC selectives is available for student review.
Schedule your DOC selectives online.