Students will become a member of the Maine-Dartmouth Inpatient Service (MDIS) team comprising attendings and residents from our family medicine practices. They will care for 2-5 inpatients, interacting directly with the attending to formulate treatment plans and meet with families. Students may take practice night call once a week with a senior resident and a faculty member and two weekend calls (Friday evening to Saturday noon). In order to accommodate students’ date requests, we may also schedule Sub-I students to cover MDIS with our night float team, working alongside a senior resident and a first-year resident.
One or two afternoons a week, students will shadow PGY3 or PGY3 residents in the outpatient clinic (Maine Dartmouth Family Practice in Waterville or the Family Medicine Institute in Augusta). Students will also work at least one afternoon a week with the resident on the inpatient service, managing hospital cross-cover issues and doing new admissions. This combination of inpatient and outpatient care most closely models the practice of a family medicine intern. Sub-I students are also involved in Tuesday afternoon teaching sessions.
The majority of medical knowledge reviewed on this rotation is linked to direct inpatient care and individual patients. Medical students will be part of the morning inpatient didactic series, led by residents, family medicine faculty and local consultants. These didactics are a mix of case review, physical diagnosis rounds, and medical topic reviews. Students are expected to give one morning talk as part of their rotation. There is opportunity to participate in procedures common to inpatient medicine, including central line placement, LP, etc. The skill of documenting admission H&Ps and discharge summaries efficiently and accurately is also emphasized, with mentorship from senior residents and faculty.