Curriculum

The wealth of clinical experience at USC is enhanced by a comprehensive and structured curriculum that includes both didactic and hands-on teaching at the bedside. Special care is taken to ensure that our didactic curriculum provides each house officer with a broad-based fund of knowledge which complements the outstanding clinical teaching delivered both in the inpatient and ambulatory settings.

CORE CURRICULUM
An ongoing and repeating series of didactic lectures and Medical Grand Rounds (see below) delivered each morning. The lecture series covers the breadth of Internal Medicine and is arranged thematically by month.

AMBULATORY CARE CURRICULUM
An ongoing and repeating case-based series on important topics in ambulatory Internal Medicine. Topics are assigned and presented by residents during the first half-hour of each General Medicine continuity clinic session.

MEDICAL GRAND ROUNDS
A weekly clinically-based conference where senior residents, under the guidance of a faculty expert, give formal case presentations and comprehensive didactic overviews.

MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY
An interdisciplinary conference for the review of cases in which morbidity or mortality has occurred. Pathologic specimens and autopsy results of Internal Medicine patients are reviewed.

MASTER PROFESSOR ROUNDS
A monthly conference where residents make clinical presentations to esteemed faculty in their areas of expertise. The Master Professor guides a relevant clinical discussion based on the presentation.

MORNING REPORT
A daily session for house staff assigned to the General Medicine Service. Junior and senior residents present cases as “unknowns” from the general medicine service. This session is moderated by faculty from the Division of Geriatric and General Internal Medicine and/or a Chief Resident. One resident discusses the case after hearing relevant historical, physical and laboratory findings. A subspecialty faculty expert is also present to discuss and teach about each case.

BOARD REVIEW COURSE
A month-long course of lectures presented each Spring which are focused on medicine topics particularly important for passage of the American Board of Internal Medicine Certifying Examination.

INTERN REPORT
A weekly session for interns assigned to the General Medicine Service. The faculty moderator focuses on the teaching of case presentation skills and clinical reasoning.

JOURNAL CLUB
A once-monthly faculty-led session focused on teaching house officers how to interpret and critique the medical literature.

RESEARCH INTEREST GROUP
Meets monthly to provide a venue for faculty mentorship and the delivery of specific curricular content on research design, IRB approval, poster presentation and the process of writing and submitting manuscripts. The group serves as a resource for residents and faculty to present and explore ideas for potential research projects and to foster professional development and collaboration.

CASE REPORT GROUP
The clinical pathology at the LAC+USC Medical Center and USC Health Sciences is truly unrivaled. The Case Report Group meets to promote the documentation and publication of our more interesting cases. It also serves as a venue for structured curriculum on choosing, researching, documenting and publishing/presenting case reports.

SPECIAL SESSIONS & WORKSHOPS

• Electrocardiogram & Radiographic Imaging Interpretation Series: annual series instructing residents in the interpretation of ECGs and radiographic imaging.
• Resident Development Workshops: annual workshops providing house officers with instruction in medical ethics, professionalism, teaching, procedural competency, evaluation and team management techniques.
• Career Planning: annual workshops emphasizing important issues regarding one’s transition from residency training to fellowship or to practice.

RESIDENTS AS TEACHERS
Internal Medicine Residents make substantial contributions to the teaching programs. Important examples include the following:

• Medical Grand Rounds
• Ambulatory Care Curriculum
• Journal Club
• Resident Lecture Series for Nurses: an ongoing lecture series by residents for nurses covering a broad range of topics in internal medicine
• Medical Student Teaching: residents directly supervise and instruct medical students in inpatient care and participate in an annual cardiopulmonary workshop for second year medical students

LIBRARY AND COMPUTER SERVICES
The Norris Medical Library is a state-of-the-art medical library situated on the Health Sciences Campus. Each hospital provides twenty-four hour access to reference materials including OVID and Uptodate™.

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