Primary Care Internal Medicine/Pediatrics at CHA-Revere

Description

Students in this 4 week elective will learn and practice a team-based care approach to the diagnosis and management of a variety of acute and chronic diseases in adult and pediatric patients in a primary care community health center. A focus of this elective will be how the patient care team identifies and addresses social determinants of health/care (SDOH) with their patients and how these issues relate to social justice and health equity. Students will spend time collaborating with various members of the patient care team developing a deeper understanding of each person's role on the team. They will work with a clinical pharmacist and/or pharmacy resident/student in the collaborative care of a patient(s) with a chronic disease(s) whom they will follow together over the course of the elective. During the elective, students will be asked to explore how factors such as economics, housing, education, food insecurity, employment, and transportation impact the health of their patients and how the members of the patient's care team each play their role in screening for, addressing, and managing these issues. Students will also spend time in the community itself with immersion experiences such as volunteering at the CHA Revere Mobile Market, community outreach with a local agency (e.g., Women Encouraging Empowerment in Revere, senior center, etc.), attending a patient home visit, visiting a school health center, meeting with a WIC nutritionist, and/or consulting with coordinators of food insecurity programs. Additional opportunities during the month may include working with behavioral health team members, complex care managers, nutritionists, resource coordinators, and patient care partners. Students may also spend a clinical session with a lactation consultant, see patients in the reproductive health clinic, and attend weekly substance use disorder suboxone treatment groups. Students will further explore SDOH through literature, narrative reflection, case presentation/discussion, and be asked to construct a timeline of a patient's life to understand how a patient's life path leads to their present situation and to inform their care plan. Students will learn more about panel management, including the management of our most complex patients. Weekly interprofessional educational conferences will provide an opportunity to further discuss and process these experiences and further cement learning.