Entry requirements

Required previous knowledge is decided by the Committee for Undergraduate Medical Education.

Aims

This course is designed to provide the medical student with the basic knowledge in internal medicine and practical training in diagnostics and treatment of internal diseases that are required as a basis for continued studies for the medical degree.

The course has two main goals: one is to teach the student basic clinical skills in the art of taking a history, making a physical examination and evaluating clinical findings, and writing medical records; the other is to provide basic theoretical knowledge in the diagnosis and treatment of internal diseases. A further objective is that the student shall develop professional behaviour and attitudes towards patients and staff.

Content

The course starts with four weeks of training in basic clinical skills, so called propedeutics. The teaching concentrates on history taking and physical examination. The student receives gradual, systematic and individualised training in close co-operation with his supervisor. During the following period with placements at different wards, the training in clinical skills continues and the student is given increased responsibility for his own patients. At the same time theoretical aspects of specific diseases are taught. There is an internship of two weeks at a regional hospital for all students, and for more than 50% of the students an additional two to four weeks.

The teaching covers the following main fields in internal medicine:

Emergency medicine

Endocrinology, including metabolic diseases and diabetes mellitus

Gastroenterology

Cardiology

Haematology

Cardiovascular diseases

Lung diseases

Kidney diseases

Rheumatology.

During the year of studies in internal medicine, courses in the following subjects are given concurrently: family medicine, clinical pharmacology, clinical physiology, clinical chemistry, geriatrics, oncology, lung medicine, diagnostic radiology and social medicine.

Instruction

The course comprises 35 weeks, including a period of independent studies, and consists of lectures, demonstrations, small group teaching, patient-related discussions, problem-based seminars and laboratory work.

The emphasis of the training is placed on work with patients on the wards, and on demonstrations and rounds. This takes 16 weeks and covers working in the emergency room and internal medicine units, and consultations. Emergency duty is also included. In addition, each student works for a period at a central laboratory for clinical physiology and clinical chemistry as well as at a department of internal medicine of smaller hospitals in the region. A one-week course in patient-physician relations is included.

Assessment

The requirements for satisfactory completion of the course are:

Passed practical examination after the 4-week course in propedeutics.

Approved performance on the wards, at consultations and in the Emergency Department.

Approved attendance according to the rules stated at the beginning of the course.

To be allowed to take the final examination, all the above requirements have to be fulfiled.

Examination: Written examination with questions of the Modified Essay Questions (MEQ) type.

Examination of a patient, consisting of history taking and physical examination, followed by a tentative diagnosis, presentation of a plan for further care, and a suggestion for treatment. At the practical examination the student is judged on the basis of examination skills, professional behaviour, attitudes, and capability of communication with the patient.