Didactics

Narrative Medicine

 

The educational experience, on all levels, is our top priority.  Through a series of lectures, including faculty and resident conferences, journal clubs, and MKSAP reviews, our program fosters the development of critical thinkers who engage in the humanistic, efficient, and evidenced-based care of internal medicine patients.

As a reflection of our commitment to medical education, our program has been honored the last eighteen consecutive years with the “Most Outstanding Clinical Department” award given by the graduating students of the LSU Medical School in New Orleans.  Below is a brief summary of a few of our didactic activities.

Morning Report - Our morning report forms the foundation of our program’s didactic efforts. Faculty, residents and medical students, along with our librarian, meet for an hour of open discussion modeled after the Oslerian Method. Everyone is encouraged to participate in a relaxed and thoughtful conversation intended to foster novel approaches to clinical problem solving.

The unique experience offered by our morning report

 

Noon Conferences - Our noon lecture series includes hour-long conferences presented by faculty, residents, and an occasional esteemed guest lecturer.

• Faculty Conferences - Both departmental and non-departmental specialists are included in the lecture series covering the competencies emphasized by the American Board of Internal Medicine.

• Resident Conferences - Over the academic year, residents are responsible for two to three lectures on any didactic topic of their choice.

• Journal Club - Once yearly, residents critically evaluate an article from the medical literature and facilitate a discussion on how the findings apply to clinical practice.

In-patient teaching rounds - Faculty supervising a ward team provide teaching rounds in a variety of formats for their team consisting of a resident, two interns, and fourth and third year medical students.

MKSAP Reviews - Based on the American College of Physician’s MKSAP Guides, these popular comprehensive reviews are usually presented by a faculty member with food provided.  Each categorical intern is also given a complete set of the most recent MKSAP collection.

Narrative Medicine - Narrative Medicine is a technique that utilizes literature and art as medicine. The LSU Internal Medicine program was one of the first residency programs to incorporate a Narrative Medicine curriculum into training in 2015, and this program continues to flourish as a tool to enhance interprofessional skills, communication, and professionalism. This program is currently led by Dr. Karam and Dr. Ardoin. [PMID: 29702059]

Social Determinants of Health and Community Outreach - The LSU Internal Medicine Program in Baton Rouge provides care to an underserved population that is affected daily by numerous Social Determinants of Health (SDOH). These include poverty, poor access to healthy foods, transportation issues, crime, poor education, etc. Our residency program focuses not only on improving our patients’ health when they are in the hospital or office, but also addressing barriers to health in order to treat our patients globally and realistically. We additionally are involved in the community through providing free cooking classes to patients and assisting in education sessions during local annual health fairs.

Problem-Based Learning - Problem-based learning (PBL) is a newer form of education that has been shown to promote teamwork, self-directed learning, conceptual thinking and interpersonal skills. At LSU Internal Medicine in Baton Rouge, we are one of the first residency programs to implement a PBL Curriculum into graduate medical education. Our curriculum is case-based, which allows our learners to develop approaches to common chief complaints as a solid foundation for intern year. This curriculum continues to expand through the leadership of Dr. Wesley and the assistance of the Clinical Educator Track.

Clinical Educator Track - The Clinical Educator Track is an integrated curriculum designed for residents interested in teaching, whether this be in the form of academic medicine or interprofessional education. Participants develop and sharpen skills in leadership, audience recognition, public speaking, education theory, research, and more. This program is led by Dr. Stumpf with contributions from other faculty members, as well as the LSU School of Education.