logo Click here for the Department of Medicine Home Page Click here for the UC Irvine Home Page Click here for the School of Medicine Home Page
 
 

Curriculum

Conferences & Didactics



  • Morning Report — At the Long Beach VA, morning report is held three times a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday). These include a variety of interactive sessions including case-based traditional morning reports facilitated by our chief residents and VA Chair of Medicine, multidisciplinary M&M review, and chief resident-led interactive learning activities. The goal is to help develop our residents’ diagnostic thought process and clinical reasoning through dedicated educational time.

  • Noon Conference — Noon conferences are held daily on weekdays at both UCIMC and the Long Beach VA with a streaming option for those who are offsite. These include a fundamentals series on core curriculum topics, subspecialty lectures, journal club sessions, M&M, Department of Medicine Grand Rounds, ambulatory case conferences focused on cases specifically related to primary care practice, and “Crack the Case”. During this unique weekly session, a resident presents a case during which two attendings unfamiliar with the outcome discuss their clinical reasoning as they attempt to search for the ultimate diagnosis. 

  • Core Conference — On Monday mornings, Y week residents start their ambulatory week with a case-based discussion at a local café. Faculty pre-record short lectures on high yield internal medicine topics which residents are encouraged to watch during the week. Residents work together in small groups to answer questions specific to the three videos and topics assigned per conference.

  • Friday Morning Academy  — On Friday mornings, all residents on their ambulatory Y week attend a three-hour dedicated didactic session over Zoom. The first segment includes lectures and discussions with interdisciplinary staff including pharmacy, social work, case management, PT/OT/ST over advancements in their department and their role in patient care. This is followed by a lecture from a subspecialty faculty member in their area of expertise. Afterwards, residents complete MKSAP questions during a board review session to apply their knowledge from the subspecialty lecture and the discussion from Core Conference on Monday.

  • Doctoring Skills Rotation — Monday afternoons of the ambulatory Y week are dedicated to an in-person curriculum focused on fundamental aspects to becoming a competent and compassionate physician. These include sessions on point-of-care ultrasound, simulation training, implicit bias training, VitalTalk, and a resident as teacher curriculum.

    • Bedside Ultrasound — We have a longitudinal curriculum on point of care ultrasound that focuses on key areas of importance for an internist. Education on using point-of-care ultrasound for cardiac assessment (ejection fraction and pericardial effusions), pulmonary (effusions, pneumothorax, edema/infiltrates) and vascular (AAA, IVC for fluid status) along with use of ultrasound for procedures will be covered.  

    • Simulation Training — Sim sessions cover important topics such as ACLS, code leadership, sepsis, and rapid responses. Training is completed at specialized simulation training centers located on each of our three rotation sites.

Inpatient Medicine

Our program operates with a three-site model: university, private community, and VA. The majority of our inpatient time is spent at UC Irvine, our university hospital. The campus was previously the local county hospital until it was bought by UC Irvine in 1976. Since then, UC Irvine has served as the local safety net hospital. At this location, we cover 8 wards teams with 1 medicine consult service, 2 MICU teams, and 1 Cardiac Care Unit team. We also rotate at the Long Beach VA where we staff 4 inpatient general medicine teams and Long Beach Memorial Hospital where we staff a teaching ICU service. Subspecialty experiences are spread over all three sites, allowing our residents to see how medicine is practiced in different models. We only cover night float rotations at UCI and Long Beach Memorial.

    

Ambulatory Medicine

Our schedule is based on an X+Y model with 3 weeks of inpatient or elective time separated by 1 week of ambulatory time. During the ambulatory Y week, our residents rotate between primary care continuity clinic and subspecialty clinic experiences. 

  • Primary Care Experience — Prior to starting intern year, residents are assigned to continuity clinic at either UC Irvine Medical Center or VA Long Beach and are matched with a faculty attending who will act as their outpatient mentor through all three years of residency. At the VA, residents are assigned their own patient panel and work in an interdisciplinary patient-aligned care team (PACT), which includes the physician, case manager, clerk, RN, and pharmacist. At UCI, residents see patients as part of their faculty mentor’s panel. Residents develop strong outpatient skills due to the diversity of backgrounds and high medical complexity of these patients.

  • Subspecialty Clinics Experiences — During intern year, residents will be assigned to rotate through a core set of subspecialty clinics to expose them to subspecialties important to producing well-rounded internists. During subsequent years, residents will be allowed to request certain subspecialties or clinic experiences (including pulmonary, cardiology, gastroenterology, rheumatology, allergy/immunology, women’s health, pre-operative medicine, etc.) to gain further insight into select fields.


Elective Opportunities

We offer a wealth of opportunities to our residents during their elective time. Residents are encouraged to rotate through a wide array of experiences, including many outside the Department of Medicine. Special electives are available by arrangement on an individual basis, as are externships and international rotations.

Please see our full electives catalog.