Abstract
Objective: The authors designed and implemented a new four-week core sub-internship for students applying into internal medicine-pediatrics (MP) residency programs. Background: Traditionally, students applying into MP residencies needed to complete a core sub-internship in both internal medicine and pediatrics. Students rarely worked with MP faculty members during these rotations and had difficulty obtaining MP specific letters of recommendation.
Design: The authors designed a four-week core sub-internship where students rotated for two weeks each on internal medicine and pediatric teams staffed with a MP attending. The course also had unique MP experiences customized to the student. The course was approved as a core sub-internship and run during block 2 of the 2023-2024 academic year.
Results: The course filled with a waitlist of three students. On post-course survey, the course was rated as “Excellent” by all students. Students specifically commented that they “received autonomy in a supportive environment” and that the course was well organized. On six month follow up survey, students continued to view the course positively, highlighting working with MP attendings and the MP specific experiences. Objectively, MP-specific letters of recommendation increased from 33% to 100%.
Conclusions: The core sub-internship was well-received by students and filled a unique gap in the previous fourth-year curriculum. The authors plan to continuing the course in the future.
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Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Core Sub-Internship: A New Core Sub-Internship at the University of Utah by Benjamin Drum, MD, PhD & Casey Gradick, MD, MPH