Outpatient US Clinical Experience in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation in Los Angeles

Information about this clinical experience:

This is an outpatient experience during which you will be under the supervision of a board-certified physical medicine and rehabilitation physician who practices pain medicine. The physician is on staff at Hoag Hospital and Dignity Health.

During this clinical experience, you will see patients with a wide variety of musculoskeletal and spinal conditions. On a typical day, approximately 40 patients are seen on average. You will learn how to perform a thorough evaluation of patients, including an appropriate history and exam, to understand the root cause of the pain and assess current mobility and range of motion. The appropriate ordering and interpretation of imaging tests, including x-rays, CT scans, and MRIs, will be discussed.

This physician takes a comprehensive and holistic approach to the treatment of pain using modalities such as physical rehabilitation, lifestyle change, medications, procedural interventions, and minimally invasive surgery. You will be able to observe injections of steroids or nerve blocks (e.g., facet joint injections, epidural steroid injections, sacroiliac joint steroid injections, selective nerve root block, lumbar sympathetic block). Other procedures performed include pulsed radiofrequency treatment, laser-assisted discectomy, vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty, and spinal cord stimulation.

This physician is a dedicated teacher with experience precepting students from all over the world. The preceptor is invested in his students’ futures and is willing to make calls to residency programs on behalf of deserving students. Please note that the doctor's willingness to do so will depend on the quality of your performance.

During your experience, you will learn the following U.S. medical practices under the preceptor’s supervision (please note that this experience remains within the regulations of California pertaining to the unlicensed practice of medicine):

• Taking the history.

• Performing physical exams under the physician's supervision.

• Presenting patients.

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

• Being involved in patient education.

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