UTCOM M3 Internal Medicine Core Clerkship
Introduction Letter
Dear
Student:
Welcome
to your Core Medicine Clerkship.
Many
third year students are overwhelmed initially by the scope of internal
medicine and the amount of material they are being asked to master.
Accept that you cannot learn all of internal medicine in a two-month
clerkship, but you can come to understand the diseases internists
treat and how we approach patients and solve diagnostic dilemmas.
I view your clerkship as an experience in learning the habits of
internal medicine: how we do a history and physical, add on the
lab results, x-rays and EKGs and come up with a list of possible
diagnosis (differential diagnosis), and then make diagnostic and
treatment decisions. We hope to teach you the patterns, the approach,
and some of the details about the diseases. You are learning a complex
method of thinking that you will use for the rest of your life.
How
can you be a “good” third year clerk? First and foremost, by carrying
out your responsibilities in a reliable manner. You must be present,
participating in the rounds, conferences, and talks offered to you.
Showing up, being attentive, inquisitive, and alert will give you
star qualities.
Secondly,
you must get to know your patients. You will each be assigned a
patient to work up when you are on-call. You must do a history and
physical, and a careful assessment and plan which you turn in to
your attending. Then you need to follow your patient daily as if
you were the intern. You will see your patients first thing in the
morning, perform a focused physical, collect the pertinent lab and
x-ray data, and write a legible note on the chart every day.
If
you notice that your patient is not doing well, you need to notify
your intern or resident immediately. Do not let a patient wait half
a day when he is sick.
Thirdly,
read about your patients. You will best remember a disease when
you see a patient with it and read about it.
Finally,
you will get an opportunity to experience the gratification a doctor
derives from taking care of patients and getting familiar with the
people he or she cares for. I encourage you to get to know your
patients, taking time to understand them beyond the illness they
have. A physician can derive much meaning and fulfillment from his/her
interactions with patients. It is good to be a smart diagnostician
and know your facts; however the best doctors know how to listen
to patients and hear important clues to their problems. You started
medical school with idealistic concepts about being a doctor. During
this clerkship, I hope you can begin to experience some of the personal
satisfactions of the profession.
If
you have any problems or questions during the clerkship, please
do not hesitate to come to talk to me about them. My assistant,
Susan Hill, is located on the 2 nd floor of the Graduate School
of Medicine and can be reached at
865-305-9340
or e-mail shill@utmck.edu .
Sincerely,
Janet
L. Purkey, MD, FACP
Associate
Professor
Department
of Internal Medicine
Clerkship
Director, Internal Medicine Core Clerkship
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