Cardiology elective at cleveland clinic

[tivark]

im scheduled for an elective rotation in ohio sometime in december. has anyone done one there before? how was it? what was expected out of you as a student? what would you have done differently to make the most out of it?

to make the most out of my time, id like to know what i could before the elective to equipt myself well. im looking to gain great experience and a good recommendation letter after.

anything i should brush up on that would help me loads? id appreciate the suggestions folks, thanks in advance!

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[Big Ben]

I did a month there as a fourth year medical student. I spent the month in their Cards ICU rather than a consult month. This meant taking a little call but by far the most intense and worthwhile rotation while I was a student.

If you're set up for a consult month, I'd encourage you to try and arrange some time in the unit. Their cards ICU is among the largest and highest acuity in the nation.

Would review major topics on Up To Date to begin with. I think this is the best approach for medical students...topics like STEMI management, management CHF, articles on inotropes/pressors, etc. This will beat any book you can find.

 

[Adcadet]

Earlier this year I did a month with a cardiology service at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. My research is in heart failure, so I spent most of my free study time before the rotation reading about HF, which was great for my research but not that helpful for my rotation. I think Big Ben has it right - grab UpToDate articles on the presentations you're most likely to see. For me on a primary cards team it was lots of NSTEMI (STEMIs went to the CCU), UA/new angina, a-fib, sycope of unknown origin. Know UA vs. NSTEMI vs. STEMI cold and their management. It will also help to get some idea of what you can use echo vs. nuclear imaging for, as this was a frequent debate on my team. Reviewing failure might also be a worthwhile use of your time depending on the service you're on. At a minimum you should definitely know what HF patients should go home on (daily weights, low-salt diet, ASA, beta blocker, ACE/ARB, etc), as with the new guidelines almost every patient you'll see will be at least Heart Failure Stage A. And a good grasp of different diuretics might be nice (loop vs. thiazide vs. K-sparing). Use of dig also came up and confused me.

 

[Big Ben]

If your'e going to the clinic for a month (or doing a dedicated cardiology month) and planning on going into medicine, I would recommend picking up the Manual of Cardiovascular Medicine (editor was Eric Topol). This book is from group of clinic attendings/fellows. It's a fantastic reference book. I think reading the chapters on ischemia/heart failure would be helpful (not reading the whole book). It is extremely evidence based listing relevant studies.

This book is an easy reference for reading when you get home from a day of work.

Book is written more at a resident/fellow level but if you use it to learn about patients you have, you'll be a star during rounds.