International Observership Course

The International Post Graduate Observership Course is offered on a year-round basis and consists of courses of observership in three specialty areas. This program will offer participating physicians four weeks of intense observer activity in the area of their choice. Participants will be able to observe patient care as it is rendered by attendings and housestaff and will participate in discussions, patient-oriented conferences, and other didactic sessions. Participants are not permitted to have any direct patient care or writing in the medical record, and will have the status of Observers.

Registration is strictly limited to assure a meaningful experience for those enrolled in this program. Selected on the basis of availability and previous experience in the specialty area of their choice, applicants will be notified about the status of their application within six weeks of receipt of their complete application, including registration fee and supporting documents. Pathology/Laboratory Medicine, Internal Medicine (allopathic) and Infectious Diseases applications are subject to a secondary review and final approval is made by the course director in the chosen clinical area.

The registration fee will only be charged if accepted into the program. The courses start every first Monday of the month and a certificate of attendance will be issued at the end of the four-week course. Because of limited spaces on our courses, we recommend you send your application at least 90 days in advance to the starting date of your choice. Please note that no course fees will be refunded for cancellations.

Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participating physicians will be acquainted with the latest medical developments in the specialty area of their choice.

Usmle Scores Required

A minimum score of 220 is required on Steps 1, 2 and 3 (if taken) –. No exceptions will be made to this minimum requirement.

Language

The courses will be offered in English. Therefore, it is necessary that the applicant have sufficient knowledge of the English language in order to be eligible for admission into the program..

Infectious Diseases

*Please note: Positions are only available all year long.

Director: Claudio Tuda, M.D., Director, Internal Medicine Residency Program

Infectious Diseases applications are subject to a secondary review and final approval is made by the course director.

The Division of Infectious Diseases (ID) at Mount Sinai Medical Center provides inpatient consultations to all divisions of the medical center, while maintaining an office practice consisting largely of HIV-infected persons, travelers and myriad cases referred from the hospital and by practicing physicians. ID fellows, PGY-2 residents on the medical and osteopathic teaching service, ER residents and students rotate on the ID service, and are expected to see patients in consultation, formulate a comprehensive differential diagnosis, and propose a diagnostic and treatment plan in conjunction with the attending.

Observers will shadow the ID team, which consists of a fellow, residents and students. They will not have any direct patient contact or write consultations or progress notes. The team will perform an initial comprehensive consultation on referred patients, and are responsible for daily follow-up notes on their patients until the attending signs off the case. Daily attending rounds are performed, at which time the fellow, resident and/or student presents his/her patients and includes discussion of management and all pertinent diagnostic imaging, pathology and microbiology studies.

All therapeutic decisions are to be discussed with the attending prior to implementation, and appropriate literature to support management decisions should be obtained prior to rounds and presentations. Observers can participate in this process and discuss management decisions and supporting data on work rounds with the ID team as well as on attending rounds. In addition, observers are expected to attend daily rounds in the Department of Microbiology, Monday through Friday, at 10 a.m., with Dr. Nancy Miller, Director of the Microbiology Laboratory.

The Observers will learn from each aspect of the rotation and participate in the plans of care as fellows, residents and students are seeing patients; formulating differential diagnoses; proposing treatment plans; assessing current literature and Infectious Disease Society of America guidelines for treatment; and discussing consultation recommendations with referring physicians. Observers are expected to attend internal medicine core noon conferences as time permits. On Thursdays, the ID team will attend ID Case Presentation Conference held at Jackson Memorial Hospital or Mount Sinai Medical Center (first Thursday of every month). ER residents, students and observers do not work weekends.

Infectious Disease applications are subject to a secondary review and final approval is made by the course director.

Click here for our application.

Internal Medicine

*Please note: Positions are only available 8 months of the year (January through June, September and November.
Director: Claudio Tuda, M.D., Director, Internal Medicine Residency Program

This program in Internal Medicine will cover the following activities:

Morning Report
General Medicine and Subspecialty Conferences
Teaching Rounds – case presentations
Student sessions
Cardiology sessions
Pulmonary Grand Rounds
Pathology Conference – discussion of interesting autopsy findings
General Medical Grand Rounds
Tumor Conference
Medical Mortality and Morbidity Conference

Internal Medicine applications are subject to a secondary review and final approval is made by the course director.

Click here for our application.

Pathology/Laboratory Medicine

*Please note: Positions are only available 7 months of the year (March, April, May, September, October and November.
Director: Robert Poppiti, M.D., Director, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

This course in Pathology will comprise a review of anatomic pathology (autopsy and surgical) and clinical pathology. Subspecialties, such as autopsy pathology, surgical pathology, skin pathology, cytology, flow cytometry, hematopathology, immunopathology, chemistry, protein laboratory, hematology, blood banking or microbiology, can be emphasized, according to the interests of each individual. The participants will work closely with a pathology resident and be involved in the following pathology teaching schedule: