Primary Care Fundamentals

Catalog description

This course provides students with a strong foundation for practicing primary care clinical medicine. Providing holistic, relationship -centered patient care is emphasized. Clinical medicine topics covered include pervasive diseases encountered, diagnosed, and managed in the primary care setting, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and lipid disorders. Common diagnostic and health maintenance laboratory studies are also explored, including but not limited to, complete blood count, basic metabolic panel, kidney function tests, liver function tests, lipid panels, and thyroid testing. Tailoring care to individual patients is discussed, particularly principles related to treating patients with chronic disease states, enabling students to subsequently conside r disease processes of organ - systems in the context of patients with common underlying comorbidities.