Outpatient US Clinical Experience in Cardiology in Chicago

Information about this clinical experience:

You will be under the supervision of a board-certified cardiologist. The physician holds hospital appointments at Presence St. Francis Hospital, AMITA Health Resurrection Medical Center, and Swedish Covenant Hospital. For many years, the doctor was an active faculty member in the internal medicine residency program at Presence St. Joseph Hospital. In recent years, the preceptor has shifted his focus to teaching international medical students and graduates.

Over several decades in practice, the physician has educated hundreds of international medical graduates and is known to develop close relationships with students. Many of the doctor's students have gone on to become physicians in the U.S.. The doctor is proud of their accomplishments.

As the practice of medicine has become more reliant on technology, the physician has seen an erosion in clinical skills. For this reason, the preceptor has created a rotation that will emphasize the mastery of clinical skills. The physician wants to teach students to perform a proper cardiac exam, recognize murmurs, and extra heart sounds.

During the rotation, you will also go over 80 Board Review EKG questions. You will go through these EKGs in great detail with the preceptor. By the end of the month, you will have significantly improved your EKG interpretation skills.

Since the office has the capability of performing nuclear cardiac stress tests, echocardiograms, and carotid ultrasounds on-site, students will have the opportunity to learn the proper indications for ordering these tests, observe these procedures, and learn how to interpret them.

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

• Taking patient histories.

• Performing exams under the physician's supervision.

• You will be assigned topics to research and discuss.

• Researching the literature to answer clinical questions at the point of care.

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

Please note that this is a purely clinical experience.

Because of this physician's dedication to teaching and mentoring, the doctor is very popular among students. During peak periods (Apr-Aug), the preceptor may have 10-12 students at a time. Despite this number, the doctor has created a system that allows the doctor to get to know all learners and write meaningful letters of recommendation.