Combined Inpatient and Outpatient US Clinical Experience in Cardiology in Houston

Information about this clinical experience:

During this rotation split between the inpatient and outpatient settings, you will be under the supervision of a cardiologist who is trained not only in general cardiovascular disease but also in interventional cardiology and electrophysiology. The physician was a former faculty member at Oregon Health Sciences University and Weill Cornell and is now a faculty member at Sam Houston State University. The preceptor serves as Director and Chief of Cardiology at a hospital which has been awarded the American College of Cardiology’s HeartCARE Center National Distinction of Excellence. This is a top honor given to hospitals for elite, comprehensive, and consistent cardiovascular care.

On weekdays, rotators will split their time between the outpatient and inpatient setting. The inpatient component of the experience will take place in the morning before the first patient is seen in the clinic, at lunchtime, or after the clinic day. Rotators should check with the preceptor to learn when these hospital visits will occur so that they can accompany the doctor for rounds. Please note that the doctor is frequently called into the hospital for cardiac emergencies, including STEMI and NSTEMI, at all hours of the day and night. If you wish to see how cardiac care is delivered at these critical moments, please let the preceptor know.

In the outpatient practice, you will see patients with the attending. This will give you the opportunity to see how comprehensive evaluations are performed in new patients and follow-ups are conducted in established patients. As the clinic has the capability of performing a variety of cardiac tests and procedures, rotators can observe echocardiograms, stress tests, and other procedures.

During your experience, you will learn the following U.S. medical practices under the preceptor’s supervision:

• Taking patient histories.

• Performing physical exams under the physician's supervision.

• Presenting patients.

• Navigating the EMR (DrChrono EMR).

• Have opportunities to research the literature to answer clinical questions at the point of care.

• Spending time with other healthcare professionals to understand their roles and responsibilities

The activities above will mostly take place in the outpatient setting. As a result of hospital policies, inpatient activities will be more observational.