Internal Medicine Rotation

Jeffrey Brensilver, MD, Chair

The 12 weeks of the internal medicine rotation are designed to expose students to a wide variety of medical problems. Students are expected to develop a logical approach to the diagnosis and treatment of patients’ complaints. Some of the skills that must be acquired and refined are how to elicit and assess patient information, how to perform a complete and accurate physical examination, how to formulate a differential diagnosis and problem list, how to construct a diagnostic workup and a plan of management, and how to write up and present cases.

Students thoroughly study at least two new patients per week, present them on teaching rounds, follow them throughout their hospital stay, and use patient problems as a basis for reading.

The end of the rotation should accumulate large amounts of experience-based knowledge as students are assigned cases in various major areas of medicine such as cardiology, gastroenterology, and endocrinology. Self-learning techniques, as well as compulsory attendance at lectures,  conferences, and teaching rounds, in concert with a careful study of patients, should foster a sound pathophysiological approach to medical diseases and a concern for and awareness of patient needs.