Outpatient US Clinical Experience in Gastroenterology in Washington D.C.

Information about this clinical experience:

This is an outpatient experience during which you will be under the supervision of a highly regarded physician educator who is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology. The physician is the former Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at Providence Hospital. In that role, the doctor was heavily involved in the education of medical students, international medical graduates, and residents. The physician holds hospital privileges within the University of Maryland Medical System.

Because this physician cares for two different patient populations - one that is relatively well insured and one that is underprivileged and underserved, rotators will see how an expert gastroenterologist deftly handles the management of a diverse patient base. You will observe how some patients have barriers to receiving the care that they need, in terms of access to high-quality treatment and issues related to health literacy.  Working alongside this physician, you will learn how to take these factors into account when developing the treatment plan. 

In this practice, the physician sees the full spectrum of gastrointestinal disorders and offers the latest in medical and procedural interventions. Among the procedures performed include upper endoscopy, colonoscopy, capsule endoscopy, ERCP, PEG, and esophageal pH monitoring. On procedure days, you will have the opportunity to observe these procedures. 

Rotators will see patients with a wide range of gastrointestinal complaints, including abdominal pain, dysphagia, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, and rectal bleeding. For established patients, you will review the electronic medical record to gain an initial understanding of the clinical problem. You will be able to access patient histories, medications, lab results, imaging, prior procedures, pathology reports, and other clinical documents. Knowledge of how the patient has been evaluated and treated longitudinally will allow you to become more informed prior to the encounter. You will also learn how to take focused histories that allow for proper characterization of the presenting symptom. Such histories can narrow the differential diagnosis permitting a more tailored diagnostic approach. The preceptor will teach you how to interpret laboratory and diagnostic studies in the context of the patient’s clinical presentation. There will be an emphasis on the integration of these findings with the patient's symptoms and clinical history when determining the next diagnostic or therapeutic step.

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

• Taking patient histories.

• Examining patients under supervision.

• Presenting patients.

• Helping write or enter clinic progress notes (CareTracker EMR)

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

• Being involved in patient education.

• Observing GI procedures.

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