MEL 8310: Infectious Diseases and International Medicine

Dr. John Sinnott and Faculty

Objectives

1. Provide fundamental information concerning techniques employed in diagnosing infectious diseases
2. Obtain an appreciation for the natural history of infectious disease so as to better understand whether therapy is affecting the course of disease in a given patient
3. Comprehend the process of selection of appropriate antimicrobial therapy

Methods

The clinical rotations conducted at Tampa General Hospital, Tampa VA Hospital, and H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center are structured to permit students to function, with guidance by advanced subspecialty residents and attending physicians, as consultants in infectious disease. In addition to participation in bedside consultative evaluation of patients and the presentation of findings on daily teaching rounds, students are required to employ standard textbooks, contemporary literature and laboratory data in an organized fashion to arrive at "best fit" diagnoses. Progress of patients will be assessed and recorded daily. Fellows and attendings will provide regular didactic teaching, and students will participate in the teaching activity by preparing and presenting a comprehensive review of an important clinical topic in infectious diseases for a Division Conference. The student's progress during the elective will be monitored during daily teaching rounds by the attending faculty.

Evaluation

Midway through the elective a formal evaluation process results in generation of written comments that are communicated to the student so that he/she can appreciate how his/her performance has been to that point. Daily, critical review of presentation of patient data will be incorporated in teaching rounds to provide guidance for the student to strengthen skills in those areas.