Clinical Cardiology Consultation

Duration: 4 weeks

Period offered: All

Distribution of student's time:
80% inpatient care
10% outpatient care
10% conferences/lectures

Enrollment/Period: 2 maximum, upon availability

Prerequisites: Required Internal Medicine core clerkship

Clerkship Objectives:

• Learn the fundamentals of clinical cardiology.
• Incorporate ECG assessment with management and diagnosis of the cardiac patient.
• Understand the use and limitation of different tests (i.e., echocardiogram, chest x-ray, stress test and cardiac catheterization).
• Enhance knowledge and skills pertaining to interviewing, physical examination and other patient interactions, interpretation of data, clinical judgment, therapy, and advice to patients.
• Increase student involvement in conferences, journal clubs.
• Increase student use of medical literature.

Evaluation:

• Quality of care given
• Participation and performance in conferences
• Level of knowledge

Methods to be used in student evaluation:

• Observation of performance by faculty
• Observation of performance by house officers
• Assessment of write-ups/reports

Description:
The student is responsible for inpatient and outpatient cardiology consults. The cardiology fellow and/or staff cardiologist supervises the student. All patients are examined first by the student and then by faculty. There are numerous opportunities for the student to observe patients being tested in the cardiac catheterization lab, echocardiogram lab or exercise stress test lab.