Internal Curriculum Rotations

*Each rotation occurs in a four-week (28-day) block

* Ward call is every four days.

Research and Publications

Residents are required to actively participate in at least one research undertaking to be presented at the Annual Kern Research Forum, and at the Solomon Scholars Meeting every year at the UCLA main campus. Several of these studies have been presented in national meetings and published in major journals.

Internal Medicine Residency Rotations

General Medicine Wards

The Internal Medicine Ward and Inpatient Consultation Rotation occurs at Kern Medical.

There are four ward teams, each made up of a full-time UCLA faculty member in Internal Medicine, a senior house officer (PGY-2 or 3), two interns, and medical students.

Caps for admission is five and 10 patients for interns and senior residents respectively. Residents average around 65 working hours per week, with a mandatory day off.

The patient population is amazingly diverse in terms of pathology and demographics. Residents learn to manage a wide array of cases with an optimal balance of autonomy and supervision. During the rotation, the Medicine residents also work closely with the Medicine subspecialty services, the other specialties, and the ER staff.

Intensive Care Unit

The Critical Care Rotation occurs at the Intensive Care and Direct Observation Units of Kern Medical.

The rotation is closely supervised by a full-time UCLA critical care faculty member. Three ICU teams go on call every three days, plus night float coverage.

The rotation allows residents to gain competence in the care of acutely ill patients. Residents learn proficiency in invasive procedures, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, and hemodynamic stabilization. The rotation is highly structured academically, and provides nationally accredited training in fundamental critical care and advanced life support.

Ambulatory Care

The Ambulatory Care Rotation occurs at the Medicine Subspecialty Clinics of Kern Medical.

The rotation is designed to provide familiarity with outpatient subspecialties, to develop utilization and referral patterns appropriate to subspecialists, and to learn the preventive health care measures of each subspecialty.

Aside from the Pulmonary, Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Infectious Disease, Nephrology, Endocrinology, Oncology and Neurology clinics (see specific subspecialty rotation description), the department also conducts the Coccidioidomycosis, Hepatology, HIV/Immunology and Rheumatology clinics.

The Cocci Clinic was established by the late Dr. Hans Einstein.

Cardiology

The Cardiology Rotation occurs at the inpatient care units and Cardiology Clinic of Kern Medical, supervised by a full-time UCLA Cardiology faculty member.

Residents gain proficiency in interpreting electrocardiograms, echocardiograms, and stress tests. Residents regularly observe procedures at the Cardiac Diagnostic Lab and at the Cardiac Catheterization Suites of Kern Medical and the other medical facilities.

Nightfloat

The Nightfloat Rotation occurs at the inpatient care units of Kern Medical.

The nightfloat resident, under supervision by an on-call UCLA faculty member, works independently to see consults and admit patients overnight. Working in this fashion permits residents to develop important skills that will be used later in the practice of medicine, including the ability to triage and recognize limitations. They will develop interpersonal communication skills, maximizing information exchange with patients, fellow residents and attending physicians.

During the rotation, the resident develops skills in system-based practice, using a variety of hospital resources to provide optimal patient care.

UCLA Electives

Residents get the opportunity to do two Medicine subspecialty rotations of their choice at the other UCLA-affiliated campuses in Los Angeles.

Any rotation (subject to availability) can be selected, although most residents prefer rheumatology, endocrinology, cardiology, nephrology, gastroenterology, and hematology-oncology. Most residents elect to rotate in Olive View and Harbor-UCLA.

During the rotation, residents are housed in a UCLA-Kern Medical apartment (two bedrooms, two bathrooms, fully furnished) at the Westwood campus.

Bakersfield VA

The Bakersfield VA Clinic Rotation occurs at the local outpatient care facility of the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.

Residents are supervised by UCLA-affiliated faculty in internal medicine. In addition to developing well-rounded competence in ambulatory medicine and preventive care, the resident also gains experience in health care issues specific to the veteran population that affords unique challenges in diagnosis and management.

Residents work office hours on weekdays and have weekends off.

Emergency Medicine

The Emergency Medicine Rotation occurs at the Kern Medical Emergency Department, the only Level II Trauma between Los Angeles and Fresno.

The residents are directly supervised by full-time emergency medicine faculty. The resident is exposed to a wide range of medical-surgical problems across all age groups in the ER and urgent care settings.

Residents also develop procedural skills unique to the acute care setting.

Infectious Disease

The Infectious Disease Rotation occurs at the inpatient care units, as well as at the ID, Cocci, Hepatology and HIV/Immunology Clinics of Kern Medical.

The rotation is supervised by a full-time UCLA Infectious Diseases faculty member. Most of the educational experience is derived from inpatient consultations and from the cases seen in the four clinics, each conducted a half-day per week. The rotation provides a concentrated experience in managing patients with bacterial, viral and fungal infections, coccidioidomycosis, HIV, Hepatitis C, parasitic infections, and tuberculosis.

Residents also gain proficiency in preparing gram stains, AFB smears and cultures at the twice-weekly sessions in the Microbiology Laboratory.

Nephrology

The Nephrology Rotation occurs at the inpatient care units and the Renal Clinic of Kern Medical.

The rotation is supervised by full-time UCLA faculty in nephrology. Most of the educational experience is derived from inpatient consultations, and from cases seen in the Renal Clinic. The rotation provides a concentrated experience in managing patients with disorders of renal function and the urinary tract.

Neurology

The Neurology Rotation occurs at the inpatient care units and the Neurology Clinic of Kern Medical.

The rotation is supervised by full-time UCLA Neurology faculty. Most of the educational experience is derived from inpatient consultations, and from cases seen in the Neurology Clinic. The rotation provides a concentrated experience in managing patients with neurologic disorders.

Residents also regularly observe procedures at the Neurodiagnostic Laboratory of Kern Medical, and learn basic skills in interpreting electroencephalograms, electromyelograms, nerve conduction studies, and neuro-imaging modalities.

Kern Medical is a designate stroke center and has continuous EEG monitoring and an Epilepsy monitoring unit.

Hematology/Oncology

The Oncology rotations occurs on the inpatient care units and outpatient Oncology clinics. The rotation is supervised by a full time UCLA Oncology faculty.

Residents gain proficiency in diagnosis, staging, and prognosis of cancer patients, as well as becoming familiar with the complications of cancer and its treatments. The Oncology service is supported by a modern infusion center, a PharmD., and midlevels.

Pulmonary

The Pulmonary rotation occurs on the inpatient care units and the outpatient Pulmonary clinics. The rotation is supervised by a full time UCLA Pulmonary faculty.

Residents gain proficiency in Pulmonary diagnosis, CXR and CT interpretations, PFT’s interpretations, and will have exposure to chronic disease management and bronchoscopy.

Gastroenterology

The Gastroenterology rotation occurs on the inpatient care units and the outpatient Gastroenterology clinics. The rotation is supervised by a full time UCLA Gastroenterology faculty.

Residents gain proficiency in the diagnosis and management of common Gastroenterology conditions including GI bleed, hepatitis, pancreatitis, and hepatobiliary disease.

KM Elective rotations

During 3 years of residency training our residents have 6 elective rotations (IEE) divided between 2^nd and 3^rd year. Based on the residents career plan they can elect rotations as : Addiction Medicine, Outpatient ENT, Anesthesiology, Radiology, Outpatient Orthopedics, Hospitalist, Immediate Care, Hospital Discharge, Subspecialty Elective, General Internal Medicine.

Continuity Clinic

The Continuity Clinic is a critical part of our residents’ clinical experiences and overall 3 years of training. All residents have office hours in general internal medicine clinic one half day each week during wards rotation, and two one half day clinic watch week during outpatient rotations. (none during night float, ICU, ED, or UCLA elective rotations). The General Internal Medicine faculty, UCLA appointed provides supervision during those office hours as our residents provide continuous care for their own panel of patients with different culturally and ethically diverse backgrounds.