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. You will learn how to set up a room prior to an endoscopic procedure, check the equipment, and document the procedure. 

The physician takes hospital call one week out of every four weeks. During that week, you will have the opportunity to accompany the doctor to the hospital where you will round on patients with acute gastrointestinal issues. Because this is a teaching hospital and the attending is sometimes involved in resident teaching, you may have the opportunity to interact with residents.

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.

The activities above will mostly take place in the outpatient setting. As a result of hospital policies, inpatient activities will be more observational.