DOC-4: Care of the Hospitalized Patient
Curriculum > Medicine 4 > DOC-4: Care of the Hospitalized Patient
Definition of the DOC-4 Patient:
The DOC-4 patient is the patient hospitalized for acute care needs.
Goals:
The DOC-4 selective will provide the students with a clinical inpatient experience similar to that of an intern. This will allow a transitional experience from medical school to residency. Call responsibilities and patient care responsibilities will approach those of an intern on the same inpatient service. The student will have close supervision by faculty and senior house staff.
Prerequisites:
All required Med III clerkships.
Clinical Experience:
The subinternship experience should include:
- Similar patient care responsibilities as an intern (with a smaller number of patients), including primary responsibilities for the patients under the student's care. This includes initial emergency department or outpatient clinic evaluation, order writing, communication with referring physicians and consultants, and discharge planning.
- Typical work hours should be a minimum of 60-65 hours per week, and limited to 80 hours per week, averaged over a four-week period, inclusive of all in-house activities.
- Similar call schedule to that of an intern on the same service. In-house overnight call is required at least four times per month.
- Active involvement in procedures, surgery, and outpatient clinic experience as deemed appropriate for an intern on the same service (where applicable).
- Attendance at grand rounds and conferences for an intern on the same service.
- Close supervision by faculty and senior house staff.
Clinical services which are eligible for subinternships are those with sufficiently large inpatient populations to assure adequate patient exposure, which are supervised by the faculty and senior house staff. Clinical services which are too specialized or procedure-oriented to allow PGY-1 to function on the service are not eligible for a DOC-4 subinternship.
Didactic Experience:
General didactic experience as defined by the Doc 4 Curriculum Committee. Additional didactic experience as defined by the department administering the curriculum.
Evaluation Methods:
Core didactic evaluations will be determined under the direction of the Doc 4 committee. Any additional didactic evaluations will be determined by the department administering the curriculum. Students will be evaluated clinically by their precepting faculty and senior residents using an approved subinternship clinical evaluation.
Course Administration:
Student Assignments: Students will be assigned to their clinical sites by the College of Medicine computerized scheduling system.
Course Director:
Each department offering a DOC-4 selective must designate a faculty course director for each clinical service offered. The directors will be under the supervision of the DOC-4 Director.
Grade Administration:
Grades will be assigned and grade cards will be completed by the departments administering the individual DOC-4 selectives.