2W: Introduction to Hospital Medicine

School of Medicine

"Hospital Medicine is a rapidly expanding field that has become an integral part of inpatient care. At Vanderbilt, not only do hospitalists provide high-quality patient care but many also occupy key leadership roles while also engaging in various scholarly endeavors focused on quality improvement, medical education, health equity, transitions of care and health systems research. This clinical elective course aims to introduce students to the diversity of the hospitalist role in a quaternary academic medical center. Within this two-week period, students will learn to provide high quality evidence-based care for complex patients in an interdisciplinary care team in conjunction with pharmacists, case workers, social workers, and other allied health professionals. They will have the opportunity to admit patients, create an organized plan of care, and perform inpatient procedures commonly performed by hospitalists with direct guidance and supervision from an attending. They will also be able to participate in the daily interprofessional huddle to understand transitions-of-care models and determine the most appropriate post-discharge placement for patients and causes of ineffective transitions. This course will be tailorable and can be designed based on each individual student’s preference to pique their interest in hospital medicine. Other possible clinical opportunities would include conducting home health visits with APPs as part of our hospital-at-home program and caring for unique patient populations served by our medicine consult service, Stallworth Rehab consult, and our geriatrics and Vanderbilt Interdisciplinary Care Program. In addition to learning how to provide comprehensive clinical care, students will also experience the extra-clinical leadership roles that VUMC (Vanderbilt University Medical Center) hospitalists serve. From clinical operations, to research, to medical education, students will see exemplars of careers in hospital medicine they might not otherwise be exposed to for several years. By the end of the course, students will have developed the skills needed to be an effective member of an interdisciplinary care team and provide comprehensive high-quality care to complex hospitalized patients. They will also be acquainted with the scholarly endeavors and key leadership opportunities in hospital medicine.