Inpatient Infectious Diseases Consult Service (Clinical Elective)

2 units

This elective offers medical students an immersive experience in the evaluation and management of infectious diseases in hospitalized patients across Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Students are typically assigned to one of the general inpatient Infectious Diseases (ID) consult teams, where they will learn the fundamentals of diagnosing and treating a broad spectrum of infections, from common community-acquired illnesses to complex hospital-acquired and opportunistic infections. Under daily supervision by an ID faculty attending, students will follow their own patients, participate actively in clinical decision-making, and engage closely with ID fellows, residents, advanced practice providers, and multidisciplinary teams. They are expected to read relevant literature about their patients’ conditions, attend teaching rounds, and participate in ID conferences and educational sessions. Core learning topics include antimicrobial selection and stewardship; appropriate use of antibiotics, antifungal, and antiviral agents; infection control principles; and the role of surgical versus medical management. Students with a strong interest in Transplant Infectious Diseases or Orthopedic/Bone and Joint Infectious Diseases may request assignment to one of these subspecialty consult services. Because these teams have limited capacity, students must contact the course director as early as possible and at least one month in advance to request a subspecialty placement. Subspecialty rotations provide focused exposure to infections in immunocompromised hosts (including solid organ and stem cell transplant recipients and patients with hematologic malignancies) or to the evaluation and management of native and prosthetic joint infections. Students rotating on these services will gain additional experience with immunosuppressive drug interactions, neutropenic fever, invasive fungal infections, surgical management of bone and joint infections, and collaboration with transplant and orthopedic surgical teams, respectively. Across all rotations, students will develop skills in clinical reasoning, evidence-based management, and multidisciplinary communication while caring for patients with diverse and challenging infectious diseases.