Early Clinical Experience and Mentorship at the Regional Burn Center

Catalog description

This course will expose first and second year medical students to the Regional Burn Center at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC). The course will focus on the multidisciplinary collaboration required to deliver high-quality burn care and the paramount goal of delivering high-equity care to all populations including the indigent populations of the San Francisco Bay Area. While much of the preclinical years are focused on didactic and physiology, this course will be patient facing and integrate themes of applied clinical care and health equity. During the weekly seminar, students will 1) interview a burn survivor in clinic, 2) round in the Burn ICU, and 3) discuss a selected reading. Reading topics will include critical care for burn patients, acute surgical/wound care, multidisciplinary burn care, rehabilitative burn care, scar reconstruction, burn prevention, health systems design for burn care, and health equity disparities in burn care. The course includes open discussion sessions to allow opportunities for reflection and discourse with the challenges presented in Burn Care. Importantly this class will focus on the Regional Burn Center as a public health prevention organization and healthcare delivery entity for the entire San Francisco Bay Area. This includes a focus on what distinguishes safety-net hospitals from non-profit and for-profit hospitals. The course is offered during autumn, winter and spring quarters. It may be taken throughout the entire academic year as a longitudinal experience if the student wishes to fully immerse in the world of burn care and engage in Burn Center quality improvement, public health initiatives, and/or research. In particular, students who enroll in multiple quarters will get exposure to acute and reconstructive burn surgery in the operating room. This seminar is ideal for students interested in future careers in public…