Clinical Infectious Diseases

Catalog description

This rotation seeks to provide an introduction to the diagnosis and management of infections occurring in adults. It additionally provides an opportunity to learn best practices when serving as a consulting physician. By the end of the course students should be able to: 1. Articulate how the unique aspects of a patient's social history, surgical history, prior exposures, and relative immunosuppression can impact the differential diagnosis for infectious diseases. 2.Optimize their approach to diagnostics including principles of diagnostic stewardship, ideal timing of culture collection, and choice of traditional culture versus molecular methods of pathogen identification. 3.Describe principles of optimal antibiotic therapy including identifying major drug classes, choosing appropriate antibiotics and monitoring for antibiotic toxicities. The course is structured around 4 weeks on the Inpatient Infectious Diseases Consult Service at Duke University Hospital or the Durham VA medical center. The majority of your learning will occur from direct care of patients complimented by independent study of the resources below, and topic presentations given by the rounding attendings. This is supplemented by infectious diseases grand rounds, journal club, and case conference presentations. Grading is based on evaluations submitted by attending faculty. There is no testing component to the grade. NOTE: This elective may require students to complete some rotations at the VA Medical Center. Please note that you must complete the required VA paperwork no later than 30 days from the 1st day of your scheduled class in order to participate. Paperwork should be obtained from the course director or their designated staff. Permission of the Instructor is required for enrollment. For more information and/or to obtain a permission number, please contact Haley Sullivan, [email protected].…