Academic Programs

 The Department of Internal Medicine is deeply committed to academic superiority. The Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (TCOM) has developed an integrated curriculum that introduces students to clinical information and analysis throughout the curriculum. The department teaches both core and elective clerkships in internal medicine disciplines. Contact Roman Ramirez, Senior Departmental Education Coordinator, for availability of Elective Clinical Clerkships or for more information about core clerkships.

Required clerkships

(*see below for detailed descriptions)

• Core Clinical Clerkship in Internal Medicine
• Core Clinical Clerkship in Geriatrics
• Core Clinical Clerkship in Subspecialty Internal Medicine

Core clinical clerkship in Internal Medicine

8 SCH. The clerkship is an eight-week program divided into two four-week sessions. One session is served in the general internal medicine ward service. Under rigorous audit, the clerk is responsible for the care of hospitalized patients. This care includes collection of data from initial evaluation to final disposition. An emphasis is placed on the skills of problem solving (data collection), management, planning, and proper record keeping (criteria of evaluations) using thoroughness, reliability, efficiency, and logic. Manual skills are learned and reinforced. The second four-week session is an ambulatory internal medicine rotation. The clerk is exposed to the multiple aspects of outpatient and ambulatory medicine including, but not limited to, rheumatology, neurology, diabetes management, general internal medicine, geriatrics (extended-care facility visits), public health, outpatient hemodialysis, and outpatient endoscopy. This session also includes case presentations and lectures on specific topics. Off-campus clerkships are served at affiliated hospitals and are generally based on the classic preceptor/clerkship format. The clerk spends eight weeks in a combined ambulatory and hospital-based program that has responsibilities and goals similar to the on-campus program.

Core clinical clerkship in Geriatrics

4 SCH. A required four-week clerkship in geriatric medicine designed to provide the foundation for competent, compassionate care of the older patient.

Core clinical clerkship in Subspecialty Internal Medicine

4 SCH. A required four-week clerkship in subspecialty internal medicine, including one or two of the following: pulmonary medicine, gastroenterology, hematology/oncology, nephrology and rheumatology. The clerk solves problems of actual patients using those data gathering and processing methods learned in the core medicine clerkship. Physiologic, biochemical and anatomic principles are re-examined within the framework of problem-solving.

*Elective Clinical Clerkships

• Internal Medicine
• Rheumatology
• Cardiology
• Gastroenterology
• Geriatrics
• Infectious Disease
• Neurology
• Pulmonary Medicine

Residency and Fellowship Programs

• Internal Medicine
• Dermatology
• Rheumatology
• Cardiology
• Palliative Medicine
• Geriatrics-Internal Medicine