Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Introductory Elective | NYU School of Medicine | NYU Langone Health

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Department of Rehabilitation Medicine Elective Catalog Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Introductory Elective

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Introductory Elective

Preceptor: Alex Moroz, MD, MHPE
Contact: Claire Teets, Claire.Teets@NYULangone.org
Telephone: 212-263-6110

Prerequisites: None

Who should enroll in this elective?

  • Students who are considering Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation as a career
  • Students who are entering an allied field, such as orthopedics, rheumatology, neurology
  • Students who are simply interested in this clinical area

Clinical sites

Depending on the student’s preference, they can rotate through various clinics such as: Sports Medicine, Spine Interventions, Acupuncture, Muscular Dystrophy, Brain Injury, Prosthetics and Orthotics, Dance Clinic, Diabetic Foot and Ankle Clinic and General Musculoskeletal Clinic, to gain exposure to general outpatient rehabilitation problems. They will also rotate through inpatient sites such as Langone Orthopedic Hospital and Bellevue Hospital. In addition, they also can rotate with Pediatric Rehabilitation and Electrodiagnostics, if interested.

Description

This is an introductory 2-week elective that seeks to introduce the student to the field of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. As an introductory elective, the student will be expected to gain a broad understanding of the core principles, foundational knowledge, and essential skills relevant to the specialty through encounters with a diverse range of cases reflective of this specialty. The student will gain this experience at both inpatient and outpatient sites. During the inpatient experience, the student will participate in the diagnostic evaluation and care of patients with the following conditions: stroke, amputations, orthopedic cases (fractures, replacements, etc.), spinal cord injury, and head trauma. In addition to management of the medical care of patients with disabilities, an understanding of the rehabilitation "team" approach is stressed in the overall management of such patients. 

Objectives of the Elective

By the end of this elective, through daily contact with patients and didactics, you will:

  1. Gain a basic understanding of the field of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, building on your pre-clerkship and clerkship experiences, through a broad exposure to physical medicine and rehabilitation patient cases
  2. Expand your skills in inpatient and outpatient workup and management of patients with disabilities that you may encounter throughout your career, regardless of specialty
  3. Learn about specialty-specific history and physical exams as well as the indications for, and complications of specialty-specific diagnostic tests and procedures
  4. Gain knowledge regarding treatment modalities used in physical medicine and rehabilitation
  5. Gain insight into the interdisciplinary nature of this specialty and how our clinicians interact with other medical disciplines to provide comprehensive patient care
  6. Explore the option of physical medicine and rehabilitation as a career choice

Key Responsibilities of the student while on Elective

By enrolling in this introductory elective, you have agreed to:

  1. Participate in at least 35 contact hours of education each week
  2. Provide communication of any excused absences to the Office of Student Affairs (excused absence form) and to the elective coordinator, in a timely fashion 
  3. Arrive in a timely fashion to all locations to which you are assigned  
  4. Participate in daily morning rounds and patient care with residents and attendings
  5. Be an active participant in the care of patients being followed by the team, as dictated by the resident/attending
  6. Attend all didactics provided for trainees, as outlined below

Key Responsibilities of the preceptor/residents/faculty while you are on Elective

By accepting your enrollment in this introductory elective, the department has agreed to:

  1. Clearly communicate their expectations of you
  2. Maintain a supportive clinical learning environment 
  3. Ensure that you have access to a broad case mix and clinical experience  
  4. Provide the education necessary for you to gain an understanding of the patients and pathology reflective of this specialty
  5. Provide feedback on your clinical skills

Didactic Program

  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Week 1   Core Curriculum Didactics Grand Rounds   Journal Club 
Week 2   Core Curriculum Didactics Grand Rounds M&M (4th Thurs of the month) Journal Club 

Method of Evaluation

Written evaluations by administrative chief resident, supervising residents, and faculty preceptor.

Residents with whom students are rotating will complete written evaluation forms. Near the end of the rotation, students will have an exit meeting where they will receive performance feedback from the chief resident and program leadership.

Scheduling Information

Duration: 2 Weeks
Months Offered: Sept-June
Student point of contact before start of elective: Claire Teets, Claire.Teets@NYULangone.org 
On day 1, students report to: Students will be contacted by PM&R Chief Resident within two weeks of the elective start and provided with their weekly schedule and reporting time and location.
Students per elective block: 2