Main description:

Working in the outpatient clinic is a key training experience for medical students. When they arrive at the clinic, students may discover that their time on the inpatient wards does not necessarily prepare them to perform well in the outpatient setting. Everything is different in the clinic, from the nature and context of the patient encounter to the student's role in note-writing, oral case presentation, and case discussion with the attending physician. The purpose of this book is to guide students as they transition to the world of 15-minute appointments, telemedicine, cyberchondriasis, motivational interviewing, shared medical appointments, and real-time informatics. The aim is to give students a clear understanding of their role in a variety of clinic settings, to evaluate and present their patients well, maximize learning, and provide excellent care for their patients. Excelling in the Clinic explains the process of becoming an effective, efficient, and scholarly worker in the primary care clinic.

Contents:

1. The Importance of Primary Care

The Power of Incremental Care - Effects of High Quality Primary Care on Health Outcomes - The Long-Term Physician-Patient Relationship - Seeing the Big Picture

2. Medical Education in the Outpatient Clinic: Benefits and Barriers

Benefits: Role-Modeling, Mentoring, and One-on-One Teaching - Barriers: Stressed Clinical Preceptors, Student Preconceptions

3. Clinic Settings, Schedules, and Structures

Settings - Schedules - Structures - Other Clinic Experiences

4. COVID-19 and the Rapid Rise of Telemedicine

How COVID-19 Has Changed Primary Care - Telephone and Video Visits: Benefits and Limitations - Student Participation in Telemedicine - Telemedicine is Here to Stay

5. Role of the Student in the Outpatient Clinic

Active Versus Passive Clinic Experiences - What Your Clinic Attending is Looking For - Increasing the Level of Responsibility: the RIME Framework - Working with the Clinic Staff - Following Up on Test Results and Consults

6. Preparing to See the Patient

Chart Review and Creating an Agenda for the Visit - More Thoughts on the Agenda: "I Just Want to Know if I'm Healthy Enough for Bacon"

7. The Patient-Centered Interview

Basics of the Patient-Centered Interview - Greeting and Introduction - Begin with an Open-Ended Question, and Listen Carefully to the Answer - Look at the Patient, Not the Screen - Med Reconciliation - Evaluate New Symptoms with Pertinent Positives and Negatives - Review of Systems - Using Motivational Interviewing for Behavioral Change - Dealing with Talkative, Angry, and Distracted Patients - Cyberchondriasis - Shared Decision-Making

8. The Physical Exam

(Lack of) Evidence for the Routine Physical Exam - The Irrational Physical Exam? - Checking Your Exam Findings with the Attending - Point-of-Care Ultrasonography in the Primary Care Clinic

9. The Concise Oral Case Presentation

The SOAP-Style Oral Presentation - Schema for the Oral Case Presentation in the Clinic - Using the Problem List as a Guide - Examples of Oral Presentations

10. Discussing the Case

Identifying Key Learning Points from the Case - Using SNAPPS for Case Presentation, Discussion, and Teaching - Researching the Case and Reporting Your Findings - Questioning Dogma in the Clinic - Responding to Feedback

11. Writing a Clinic Note

The Classic SOAP Note and its Function - How Not to Write a Progress Note: Things to Avoid - Examples of Concise Clinic Notes

12. Service-Learning Clinics

Working in Shelters and Homeless Clinics - Student-Run Free Clinics - Challenges and Satisfactions of Caring for the Underserved - The Silver Chalice

13. Careers in Primary Care

Traditional, Non-Traditional, and Academic Practice Options - Finding Your Niche in Primary Care - Academic Careers in Primary Care: How to Get There - The Future of Primary Care