During this elective, residents will participate in the provision of primary healthcare to patients between 10 and 26 years of age. Common complaints include STI's, contraception, sports injuries, acne, and IVDU, at sites as diverse as a homeless shelter for youth, school-based clinics, La Clínica Tepeyác, High Street, and the 16th Street Mall.
"The adolescent medicine rotation provides a unique experience for residents to become comfortable seeing patients as young as twelve years old in a variety of settings, ranging from poor underserved, school based clinics, and homeless youth. Relive the drama and awkwardness of your youth! During this rotation, many issues such as STD's, teen pregnancy, depression, obesity, and adolescent development are tackled. The attendings are some of the best in this program and love to teach. I now feel comfortable seeing patients younger than 21 in my primary care clinic after this rotation and look forward to taking care of this unique population in the future." Hannah Hall, MD, class of 2013
The AUCC is located at Denver Health and offers residents a wide variety of cases in medicine, surgery, gynecology, orthopedics and others. Resident autonomy and independent decision-making are stressed. Residents will see a broad spectrum of acute and sub acute conditions that will present to offices and urgent care centers requiring entirely different management skills than you have acquired on the wards or in continuity clinics.
This course focuses on the development of advocacy and leadership skills to better serve the needs of the underserved and vulnerable populations. This elective is designed to provide participants with a basic understanding of our current healthcare system and training on specific strategies that can be used to advocate on behalf of patients—through legislation, written pieces, media, coalitions, and community organizing.
Residents can elect to take a 3-4 month block of rotations at the Denver Veteran’s Affairs Hospital in their 3rd year. Several different clinics are available to rotate through on a regular basis including, but not limited to, urology, rheumatology, dermatology, ENT, ortho, pulmonary, renal, and more.
This elective is designed to help residents develop a broad understanding of complementary and alternative therapies. Residents work with the University, Kaiser and community providers who specialize in various alternative healing disciplines, including acupuncture, naturopathy, yoga therapy, hypnosis, meditation, and shamanism.
Clinical Nutrition: With the majority of chronic diseases having a lifestyle component, residents have the option to spend two weeks learning more about clinical nutrition. Experiences may include spending time with dietitians and physicians in nutrition specialty clinics such as obesity, type II diabetes, eating disorders, nutrition and oncology, and general nutrition counseling. The majority of the experiences are ambulatory, though inpatient nutrition training can be arranged with advance notice.
This one month of out-patient dermatology clinic in a multi-specialty group setting is one of our most popular! Residents achieve independence with basic dermatology diagnosis, treatment and biopsy procedures. Open to primary care residents only.
"The dermatology elective at Kaiser helped me develop important skills that I use frequently now that I am in practice, especially considering the wait time for routine dermatology where I am is several months! I became comfortable with shave and punch biopsies after doing over 30 during the course of a month. I rotated with different dermatologists and I learned a lot about diagnosis and management of various skin conditions and skin cancers. The knowledge I gained has been invaluable for primary care practice!" Alison Landrey, MD, class of 2012
This elective focuses on cardiac stress testing: picking the right stress test, testing protocol, reasons for testing, interpretation of data and safety considerations. At the end of the course, you should be able to conduct exercise testing independently and we will certify you as ready to do this if you have proctored at least 50 stress tests and taken the pre and post tests. Many physicians who have completed this rotation are now performing treadmills in their practice settings!
During this unique rotation, residents will learn pedigree construction and interpretation, become familiar with available genetic tests, develop genetic counseling skills, and become familiar with the ethics and legal implications of genetic testing. Several clinic sites will be used to capture an array of diseases and styles of practice, and there are curricular offerings throughout the month to enhance learning built into the schedule. The main thrust of the month is to help Internal Medicine residents develop the skillset to understand and how medical genetics relates to Internal Medicine and to prepare for the continued evolution of clinical genomic medicine as applied to adults.
During this elective, residents will learn chronic care of HIV-infected individuals with a focus on the primary care of this population. Residents will gain the knowledge and skills to provide guideline-based preventive care specific to HIV patients, initiate anti-retrovirals, manage complications of treatment including viral resistance, and manage chronic co-morbidities. This is a required rotation for PC residents who wish to enter the HIV program, but is open to all interested residents.
"This elective provides a comprehensive overview for caring for patients with HIV. During this month, residents gain exposure to providing care for patients with HIV, including general healthcare maintenance, management of medications, identifying and managing common infections, and so much more! In addition, residents have the opportunity to participate STI-screening and counseling, as well as, substance abuse counseling and treatment in the inner-city. After completing this elective, I was motivated to continue learning HIV-medicine and complete the HIV-track. Truly, the best elective of my residency training!" Tierney Sparks, MD, class of 2013
Residents can take advantage of wonderful opportunities in Arizona and New Mexico with the Indian Health Service. Several CU graduates serve as preceptors. Residents will practice the full spectrum of internal medicine including outpatient clinics and inpatient rounding in this unique practice setting. During this rotation, residents live on the reservation affording them an opportunity to become fully immersed in the unique culture and community found on the reservations.
"Rotating at the Northern Navajo Medical Center in Shiprock, NM was a fantastic opportunity to see how high quality, academic-oriented primary care clinicians can continue to provide outstanding evidence-based care in a community setting. The hospital in Shiprock serves a VERY large geographic area, encompassing most of the Navajo reservation. It was an amazing opportunity to learn about the Navajo culture and meet the wonderful people who live in the Four Corners area. I loved having the opportunity to care for patients in the outpatient clinic, the walk-in clinic, the general medicine ward, and the ICU. They also have some unique clinics to serve the unique needs of the patient population, such as a Uranium Miner Clinic, TB clinic (common on the reservation), group diabetes clinic, and very busy rheumatology clinic (a lot of rheumatologic diseases run in Navajo families). The internal medicine physicians in Shiprock were a blast to work with and exceptional clinical educators. On the weekends (yes, you do get weekends off) you have the chance to explore amazing places such as Canyon of the Ancients, Hovenweep, Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, Moab, the Grand Canyon, Taos, Santa Fe, Durango, and more! This rotation had a huge and positive impact on my career decisions." Kathryn McCaffrey, MD, class of 2013
Kaiser Permanente is a non-profit integrated health system (primarily HMO with some PPO and high-deductible plans) caring for more than 450,000 members in 17 clinics throughout Denver and Boulder. Primary care internists host residents at their clinic site where the resident will work with 2-3 internists seeing patients, performing clinic-based procedures, attending CMEs and business-related meetings of interest.
This popular rotation has been rated as one of the most valuable outpatient experiences offered at CU. Practical experience with a personable, superb clinician-educator. Residents will master joint exam skills and injection techniques. Available to primary care residents only.
“During this elective, I fine tuned my musculoskeletal physical exam skills with an orthopedic surgeon who loves to teach. Spent time (just the right amount) in the Operating Room-a place not usually experienced by IM residents. I placed needles into joints that were just about to undergo replacement to really learn that I was making it into correct spot! This elective was an anatomy refresher that was really pertinent to what we as primary care doctors need to know. I now know when to refer to ortho and how to do joints injections in my clinical practice” Sarah Earle, MD, class of 2013
This month is designed to provide the resident with exposure to hospice and palliative care through a variety of inpatient hospice, home hospice, and community-based palliative care experiences. The resident will primarily work at Hospice of St John (HSJ), taking the responsibility for patients receiving intensive hospice care for acute symptom management. Residents will strengthen knowledge and skills in pain and symptom management and end-of-life communication through participation in one-on-one educational sessions with palliative care physicians throughout the month.
"The elective was a great time for me to really improve my skills in the management of common but distressing symptoms at the end of life. I left feeling more comfortable initiating and managing PCAs, titrating pain medications, and I had more tools for treating nausea and constipation. Probably the most important skill I obtained was seeing and understanding the process of dying. When patients and their families ask, "what will it be like," I can provide some answers and make a very scary and unknown process a little more comfortable." Rachael Dirksen, MD, class of 2012
An excellent opportunity to participate actively in a busy 3 internist community-based practice with a variety of managed care plans (HMOs, PPOs, POS, and indemnity insurance). Learn to code, refer, pre-authorize, use superbills and understand the myriad variations of insurance reimbursement. Residents will also be exposed to overhead and traditional office expenses. Opportunities to attend peer review, medical staff leadership and quality management meetings. A terrific opportunity to get accustomed to practicing in the real world.
We will make every attempt to accommodate educational requests and individualized learning objective during this elective. Clinic experiences can include: intake evaluations, common psychiatric diagnoses such as anxiety and mood disorders, addiction and substance abuse clinics, women’s health clinics, eating disorders clinics, geriatric clinics, and motivational interviewing. Internal medicine residents will get experience in diagnostic formulation, assessing for suicidality and violence, pharmacotherapy, and some basic principles of psychotherapy.
"In the primary care psychiatry rotation, I was able to spend time seeing patients with senior psychiatry residents and faculty, observing firsthand the types of patients who are referred to and followed by psychiatrists as well as learning management pearls directly from them. This was a valuable experience that improved my management of psychiatric patients in several specific ways, and was enjoyable as well. I highly recommend it!" Mark Learned, MD, class of 2012
The objective of participating in primary care research is to allow residents exposure to the process of conducting research while allowing them to explore issues that are relevant to them. As a secondary objective, we encourage presentation of research results at a national meeting as well as publication in a peer-reviewed journal. See PC Research
Residents may choose from a large number of rural clinical sites that incorporate both inpatient and outpatient medicine. Most of these sites qualify for loan repayment and are looking for new internists to join their group. Through grant funding, we are able to provide residents with lodging, travel expenses and a daily stipend.
"Rotating at Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo, CO was a fantastic opportunity to experience giving excellent inpatient and outpatient care in a smaller community in Colorado. The hospital serves a large geographic area and as a result has many interesting cases. Additionally, the hospital has a lot of visiting medical students and a brand new internal medicine residency program, so you have ample opportunity to improve your teaching skills on the wards and during AM/noon conferences. All of the attendings, medical students, and new interns were very enthusiastic and welcoming to a visiting resident. This rotation proves that it is still possible to pursue a career as a primary care clinician who cares for their patients in the clinic as well as the hospital...meanwhile you can still be involved in medical education and teaching. My favorite part of the rotation is witnessing the strong bonds that form between patients, families, and physicians in this setting of great continuity. On the weekends you can go to the Chilifest, State Fair, drive-in movie theatre, or go hiking. The month flew by; it was a blast!" Kathryn McCaffrey, MD, class of 2013
Residents learn about the health care system, participate in quality improvement projects and meet many of the people around town who make policy decisions. It will change the way you read the newspaper, watch the news, and interact with patients and multidisciplinary health care teams. This elective is well-suited for those who like topics such as understanding healthcare systems, what’s Medicare/Medicaid, who pays, how do you define “quality”, what is a quality improvement plan? The month is largely non-clinical in nature.
Available at Stout Street Clinic providing care to the homeless population in Denver, Denver Health and Hospitals Clinics and many others. Having the opportunity to spend a month at a single site will allow residents to experience the rewards of providing primary care to underserved populations.
"I was lucky to spend a complete month during my second year at Westside, the Denver Health community clinic where my continuity clinic is based. I really enjoyed building my patient panel, working closely with multiple attendings who love their careers and teaching residents, and getting a better sense of what a primary care career for an underserved population would entail. Additionally, I was able to spend time with the nurses at the clinic doing weight loss visits, a psychiatrist who treats difficult mental health cases within an integrated model, and an endocrinologist who assists with specialty care which gave me a broader sense of the clinic's activities." Mim Ari, MD, class of 2013
This elective provides residents exposure to several diverse outpatient clinical experiences including gestational diabetes, metabolic bone disease, breast and thyroid clinics, high risk OB, and pelvic pain clinics. Each schedule is crafted according to individual interest. All residents will gain exposure in the diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, performance of well-woman examinations, contraception, treatment and management of abnormal pap smears, workup of abnormal and dysfunctional uterine bleeding, diagnosis and work-up of incontinence, including urodynamics, and hormone therapy counseling.
"This outstanding elective is individually designed to meet the educational goals of residents. After completing this elective, I am able to perform many gynecological procedures independently, including endometrial biopsies, IUD insertions, and biopsies. I am prepared to offer these services as a future primary care provider." Tierney Sparks, MD, class of 2013