Postgraduate Electives
The Division of Infectious Diseases is pleased to offer elective rotations to Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, and other Medical/Surgical residents.
The Infectious Diseases Service at each hospital site provides comprehensive inpatient consultations to a wide variety of clinical services, including various surgical disciplines (Cardiac Surgery, General Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Neurosurgery, Thoracic Surgery, Vascular Surgery, Urology) as well as Critical Care, General Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine subspecialty services, Neurology, Palliative Care, Transplant Medicine, and a variety of other disciplines. Consultation services are provided for patients admitted to University Hospital and Victoria Hospital. You will be assigned to either the University Hospital or Victoria Hospital Infectious Diseases consultation service during your rotation.
Although the elective rotation is primarily inpatient based, a 50:50 split between inpatient service and outpatient clinics may be available for residents pursuing a career in a predominantly outpatient based specialty (e.g., Family Medicine).
During the rotation on the inpatient service, you will be working in a team setting with one Infectious Diseases consultant, resident physicians, clinical clerks, and an ID pharmacist. Teams at each site usually meet in the morning between 8:00 am and 8:30 am to go over the plans for the day. On average, the team at each site will be asked to perform approximately 3 to 5 new patient consultations each day. Patients that have previously been seen in consultation may require ongoing management by the Infectious Diseases service. Between 8:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., team members will be spending the majority of their time conducting patient assessments and providing consultative care. The afternoons are reserved for rounding with the ID consultant, and for clinical or didactic teaching.
At the start of the rotation, the resident will be provided with an orientation to the ID Service, including duties, responsibilities, and expectations. Residents will also be provided with access to dedicated ID team rooms and to the ID Patient List in the hospital's electronic medical system.
Required weekly educational activities include Clinical Case Rounds (alternate Tuesdays at 8:00 a.m.), Fellow teaching (Thursdays from 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.), ID Grand Rounds (monthly on Wednesdays at 12:00 p.m.), Journal Club (monthly on Tuesday evenings at 6:00 p.m.), as well as assigned textbook chapter and review article readings. Residents are assisned to take call home call only on one weekend (max 2 days) during the block. There are no required evening call duties.
Rotation Objectives:
By the end of the elective, the resident will:
- Experience the breadth of infectious diseases practice in the inpatient setting
- Participate in the care of patients in the outpatient setting (optional)
- Learn the art of conducting an infectious diseases consultation
- Complete assisgned readings (textbook chapters and review articles)
- Understand the mechanism(s) of action, mechanisms of resistance, and appropriate utilization of commonly prescribed antimicrobial agents
- Present one of their patients at biweekly Clinical Case Rounds
- Participate in mandatory educational and teaching sessions
- Reflect on the possibility of pursuing a fellowship in Infectious Diseases (for residents in Internal Medicine
