Intro Clinical Medicine I

Catalog description

Provides first-year Physician Assistant (PA) students with a comprehensive foundation in history-taking, physical examination techniques, clinical documentation, and patient-centered communication, emphasizing the development of systematic assessment skills essential for effective diagnosis and medical decision-making. The course integrates lectures, small-group discussions, laboratory-based skill sessions, standardized patient (SP) encounters, and simulation exercises to enhance students' ability to elicit comprehensive medical histories, perform structured physical examinations across all major organ systems, and apply patient-centered interviewing techniques across the lifespan, including prenatal, infant, pediatric, adolescent, teen, adult, and geriatric populations. Students will develop active listening skills, effective questioning techniques, and nonverbal communication awareness, ensuring empathetic, unbiased interactions with diverse patients while learning to identify and address barriers to communication. Through structured lab-based practice, peer-to-peer assessments, and faculty-guided feedback, students refine their technique proficiency in inspection, palpation, percussion, and auscultation while becoming proficient in accurate measurement of vital signs, systematic review of systems, and identifying key clinical findings. The course also introduces principles of medical documentation, ensuring students develop the ability to construct clear, concise, and organized patient records using appropriate medical terminology, distinguishing between subjective and objective data while reinforcing the importance of thorough, legally sound documentation in clinical practice. Assessment methods include written exams, practical evaluations, objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs), and structured history and physical (H&P) assignments, all designed to…