ACE: Undiagnosed Diseases

0 credits · School of Medicine

About 5-10% of the United States population is living with an undiagnosed disease. This places a lot of stress on these individuals and their healthcare providers. There is hope for a diagnosis for this population as new and emerging technologies and expanding recognition of the problem has led to increasing opportunities to reach a diagnosis. The Undiagnosed Diseases Network is a multicenter program funded by the National Institutes of Health with the dual goal of providing answers to patients and families and further medical science in the process. Vanderbilt has been involved in the Undiagnosed Diseases Network since 2014, has had its own Undiagnosed Diseases Program since 2021, and has had a partnership with United Healthcare for patients on a diagnostic odyssey under their insurance since 2022. This rotation provides exposure to these unique programs and the multitude of tools and resources that they utilize. This includes a multidisciplinary clinic, research-based tools for genomic analysis, and participation in collaborative research. Students rotating will learn about the challenges of living with an undiagnosed disease and the tools used to improve patient care for this population through examination of prospective cases, participation in clinic, review of unsolved cases, and analysis of the patient’s data with a multidisciplinary team. [0]