Inpatient US Clinical Experience in Infectious Disease in Orlando

Information about this clinical experience:

This is an inpatient experience during which you will be under the supervision of a board-certified infectious disease physician. The preceptor holds staff appointments within the HCA Florida and AdventHealth Hospital Systems. The physician is a dedicated teacher is a strong advocate for students.

The evidence indicates that many types of patients have improved outcomes when they are managed by infectious disease physicians. These include patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia, Pseudomonas bacteremia, candidemia, and multi-drug-resistant organisms. Other patient groups that have better outcomes when infectious disease physicians are involved in their care include solid organ transplant recipients and ICU patients.

As a future resident, you will be called upon to evaluate and manage hospitalized patients with serious illness. Several studies in the U.S. have shown that residents have significant gaps in their knowledge with respect to infectious disease and selection of antimicrobial therapy. In one study, 90% of residents reported the need for more antimicrobial education and 67% desired feedback on their own prescribing practices. Whether you’re caring for a patient with sepsis, hospital-acquired pneumonia, or complicated urinary tract infection, it is crucial that you assess these patients properly, select the appropriate antimicrobial therapy, and initiate treatment in a timely manner. This clinical experience will show you how to do just that.

During this clinical experience, you will have the opportunity to discuss your learning goals with the preceptor early in the rotation. This will allow the attending to tailor the experience to your needs. You will be given a list of infectious disease conditions to research in depth, including cystitis, pyelonephritis, community-acquired pneumonia, hospital-acquired pneumonia, cholecystitis, diverticulitis, and skin and soft tissue infection, among others. As these are the most common infections encountered in hospitalized patients, your directed reading will expand your knowledge base in these high-yield areas. Of note, the preceptor enjoys asking students questions. You can expect to be asked about appropriate empiric therapy, your rationale for recommending a particular antibiotic regimen, and what you believe is the correct duration of therapy. This question and answer is meant to get you thinking, and help you feel comfortable answering the question, “What is the next step in this patient’s care?”

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

• Taking patient histories.

• Presenting patients.

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

• Teaching other team members (you will give 2-3-minute topic presentations).

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