| Clinical
Training
Faculty of the Division are heavily involved in the education
of physician assistants, students, residents and clinical
fellows. Four clinical fellows in Infectious Diseases receive
clinical training in a two-year ACGME-accredited training
program on the inpatient services at the LAC+USC Medical Center,
USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Hospital, and USC
University Hospital, and for outpatient care in HCC II and
the Rand Schrader HIV Clinic. In addition, faculty of the
Division mentor and supervise three to four house officers
(PGL 2 and 3 residents) and two to three USC and occasionally
external medical students per month on the Infectious Diseases
consultation services. In the Rand Schrader HIV Clinic, the
faculty, in association with members of the Department of
Family Medicine, operate an educational program (Pacific AIDS
Educational Training Center grant) sponsored by HRSA for community
physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and
nurses involved in the primary care of patients with HIV.
Faculty of the Division also participate in the Keck School
of Medicine annual postgraduate education program.
Conferences
A number of didactic and interactive conferences are provided
each week and are facilitated by Infectious Diseases faculty.
Clinical fellows also present cases, discuss journal articles
and provide disease overviews at a number of the conferences.
Student and resident trainees rotating on the LAC+USC Medical
Center consult service also attend these conferences.
Infectious Diseases Core Curriculum Lecture Series
is held weekly (Monday mornings 8:00-9:00) and is a vital
component of the didactic portion of the total educational
program. This series covers a large number of distinct and
important topics over a 2-year cycle, encompassing the essential
principles for the practice of infectious diseases. These
lectures are generally given by the Infectious Diseases faculty.
Each fellow is expected to give two lectures per year, which
are facilitated by the Infectious Diseases faculty. The lectures
also serve as a platform for hypotheses that may provide the
underpinning for fellow and faculty investigations that expand
the knowledge base in this ever-changing specialty.
The weekly Infectious Diseases Case Conference
is held on Wednesday mornings from 8:30-9:30 and consists
of the presentation of two clinical cases each week (usually
one from the LAC+USC Medical Center Consult Service and one
from the USC University Hospital Teaching Service), each selected
by the fellows on the respective consultation services. The
fellow may present the case or assign this learning experience
to an internal medicine resident or medical student. The Pediatric
Infectious Diseases Service selects at least one case per
month for presentation at the Conference. The format consists
of the case presentation, followed by a discussion of diagnostic
and therapeutic issues by another fellow, selected by virtue
of his or her unfamiliarity with the case. This lively conference
usually has 30-40 attendees, including USC faculty, trainees,
Rand Schrader Clinic providers, and community practitioners
of both pediatric and adult infectious diseases.
Infectious Diseases Grand Rounds are held
on the second Friday of every month with guest speakers selected
and hosted by the Infectious Diseases faculty. These lectures
are frequently delivered by visiting faculty of national stature
in their respective areas of expertise.
Clinicopathologic Conference occurs on the
fourth Friday of each month. The clinical fellow on the LAC+USC
Medical Center Consultation Service selects and organizes
the conference with cases and topics chosen in conjunction
with the Division Chief, Program Director and the attending
for the month on the LAC+USC Medical Center Consultation Service.
Faculty members from other specialties and subspecialties
are invited to discuss significant diagnostic elements of
and review pathologic slides, microbiologic specimens, radiographic
imaging, retinal photographs, and/or their specialty contribution
to the case patient’s care. A member of the ID Division
Faculty is asked to provide a wrap-up of salient diagnostic,
management, or treatment issues at the end of the conference.
Infectious Diseases Journal Club is held
monthly. Two articles are selected by the fellows as approved
by an ID faculty facilitator for discussion and are presented
for critical review at each of the sessions. A fellow is assigned
as the primary discussant for each of the two articles, presenting
a critical analysis of study hypotheses, study design, statistical
methods, results, appropriateness of the authors’ conclusions,
and applicability of the results. The emphasis is on critical
review of all aspects of the reported studies for potential
flaws in the design or analysis and introduction of potential
bias that could affect the conclusions drawn.
Combined Pulmonary-Infectious Diseases Teaching Conference
is held once a month on the third Tuesday from 8:30-9:30 a.m.
Similar to Infectious Diseases Case Conference, the format
consists of preparation and presentation of two cases as unknowns,
one selected by the Infectious Disease fellow assigned to
the conference, and the other presented by the Pulmonary fellow.
Faculty from the Infectious Diseases and Pulmonary/Critical
Care Divisions attend the conference and participate in the
case discussions. A short review of the relevant current literature
generally follows each case presentation.
A series of three HIV Conferences are held
at the Rand Schrader Clinic, facilitated by Infectious Diseases
faculty based at the clinic. This stimulating sequence of
discussions alternates among the following themes each month:
- HIV Management and Resistance Conference
- Primary Case in HIV Medicine (e.g., management of hypertension,
CAD, diabetes)
- HIV Co-Infections (e.g., tuberculosis, hepatitis B or
C, human papilloma virus)
These conferences are facilitated by Dr. Cadden, Medical
Director of the Rand Schrader Clinic, Dr. Jens Kort, and Dr.
Michael Dube, Associate Medical Director. The conferences
are attended by faculty from the ID Division, Rand Schrader
Clinic physicians, general internists from the Department
of Medicine, faculty psychiatrists, physician assistants,
social workers and a number of clinic nurses. The ID fellows
along with students and house officers rotating on the ID
service are required to attend these teaching activities.
Intercity Infectious Diseases Rounds: This
is a long-standing 2-hour monthly meeting of academic infectious
diseases specialty, trainees, and allied health professionals
that rotates amongst the different participant hospitals (USC,
Harbor-UCLA, Harbor City Kaiser, St. Mary’s Medical
Center, Long Beach VA, Torrance Memorial Hospital). The format
of the conference is for the host institution fellows to present
interesting and instructive cases (usually 4-5) in infectious
diseases as unknowns. The guest faculty are then asked to
provide a differential diagnosis, diagnostic workup, and treatment
plan. This is followed by a review of the microbiology, histopathology,
special imaging, etc., and then a short didactic presentation
by the fellow describing salient features or important aspects
of the case.
Combined Adult-Pediatric Infectious Diseases Research
Conference: A new bimonthly conference (established
this year by Drs. Kort and Sattler) on current clinical and
translational research topics of USC adult and pediatric Infectious
Diseases faculty and affiliated institutions such as the City
of Hope National Medical Center. This conference is also integrated
into the ACGME-teaching curriculum for the ID fellows.
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