Background: In 2015, medical students in their clinical clerkships (traditionally known as third year medical students) began rotating directly with hospitalist attendings. As we began crafting the rotation, we sought to provide value that was not leveraged elsewhere in their clerkships. Different organizations, including the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and Association of American Medical [...]

Background: In 2015, medical students in their clinical clerkships (traditionally known as third year medical students) began rotating directly with hospitalist attendings. As we began crafting the rotation, we sought to provide value that was not leveraged elsewhere in their clerkships. Different organizations, including the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and Association of American Medical [...]

Background: Writing and presenting case reports provides opportunity for scholarly activities and promotes scientific writing and critical thinking. This study assesses Internal Medicine residents’ perceived benefits, challenges, and barriers regarding writing and presenting case reports. Methods: A Qualtrics survey was emailed to total 125 Internal Medicine Residents of the Medical College of Wisconsin. The survey [...]

Background: A recent study showed over 80 percent of internal medicine residents reported being uncomfortable or very uncomfortable with dermatologic issues. Formalized teaching in dermatology in medicine residency may be prudent. This teaching could occur in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Our objective was to study the effect of a dermatology curriculum on knowledge and [...]

Background: Quality improvement (QI) has been recognized as a core component of medical resident training and progressive engagement with QI is required by the American Council of Graduate Medical Education’s Clinical Learning Environment Review. Prior to 2015, no formal QI education was provided within our internal medicine residency program. This deficiency prompted residency program leadership [...]

Background: The role of the clerkship director (CD) in Internal Medicine (IM) has been increasingly recognized and valued as a ‘legitimate pathway towards academic advancement. We hypothesized that salary support for the IM CD has lagged behind the recommended 0.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) put forth by Pangaro and colleagues. Methods: In 2016, Clerkship Directors in [...]

Background: Point of care ultrasound (POCUS) significantly augments physical exam and improves medical management, and many medical schools across the United States are implementing undergraduate POCUS curricula. As a result, internal medicine (IM) residency programs have incoming interns with varying levels of POCUS knowledge and skill. We administered a needs assessment questionnaire to incoming interns [...]

Background: Opioids are widely prescribed for cancer and non-cancer related pain in hospitalized patients. The opioid usage increased roughly three times in the past two decades. Pain is a feeling of distress evoked by sensory stimuli with/without organ damage and an associated emotional experience. Considering the subjective nature of pain, the need for medication is [...]

Case Presentation: This is the case of a 57-year-old lady with rapidly progressive stage IV pulmonary adenocarcinoma who presented two months after diagnosis with findings of significant hyponatremia. Upon admission, she was afebrile, hypotensive and tachycardic. Sodium was 119 mEq/L, potassium 2.4 mEq/L, chloride 67 mEq/L, serum osmolality 246 mosm/kg, urine osmolality 684 mosm/kg and [...]