1. Introduction

Medicine I is the first year of the three year Medicine Course. It is a very clinically-oriented course. Attendance is not mandatory, but the student is completely responsible for information provided during class and the information in the syllabus.

The art of patient examination and management can only be learned by constant listening, learning, interacting and applying the information appropriately -- in the preclinical setting now and in the clinical setting later. It cannot be gained solely by cramming. This is the time when you will develop the critical thinking skills which are so necessary for patient assessment.

2. Topics

The following topics will be discussed extensively during the course:

1. Goals and objectives
2. Course overview
3. Introduction to patient examination
4. History taking: overview and method
5. Symptoms and signs associated with common medical conditions encountered and the pathophysiology associated with those disease states
6. Cardiopulmonary assessment with demonstration
7. Neurological assessment with demonstration
8. Head and neck assessment with demonstration
9. Extremities and abdomen assessment with demonstration
10. Assessment of victims of violence, the disabled patient and the role of behavioral medicine in patient assessment
11. Assessment of normal laboratory texts
12. Medical physical examination overview and method
13. Dental: History taking and intraoral examination by a General Dentist and an Oral Pathologist
14. Prescription writing and endocarditis prophylaxis as recommended by the American Heart Association
15. Using the Physician's Desk Reference (PDR) for evaluation of drugs
16. Pharmacology: Anesthetics, analgesics and antibodies

3. Reading

Recommended reading should serve as a source of additional information. The recommended reading is:

• A Guide to Physical Examination & History Taking; Barbara Bates. J.B. Lippincott Co., Publishers.
• The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy; Robert Berkow, M.D., Editor-in-Chief. Published by Merck Research Laboratories.

4. Exams and Grading

From time to time during the course, you may be randomly examined on short test questions that will not be graded. This will help you in judging the style of clinically oriented questions that you should become familiar with. This in turn will help decide your best style of learning this material.

• The Medicine Year 01 course is a two credit course.
• There will be two exams, each contributing 50% towards the final grade.