Clinical Medicine and Oncology Subinternship (M-115)

This elective offers a unique opportunity for fourth-year medical students to function as interns on the inpatient service of the Department of Medicine at Memorial Hospital. Students are assigned to one of the five subspecialized inpatient medical oncology teams (GI, GU, breast, lymphoma, or leukemia) and work under the supervision of the team’s attending physician, resident, and intern. The subintern assumes the usual duties of an intern, including admitting/evaluating new patients, writing daily progress notes, and implementing the plan of care for each patient.

As an acting intern, students are assigned to both on-call weekday and weekend shifts. The average subintern daily census is three to four patients with a maximum of six patients. In addition, subinterns participate in all the departmental educational activities, including daily bedside attending rounds, weekly intern morning report, daily housestaff didactic conferences, Department of Medicine grand rounds, as well as a weekly didactic conference exclusively for subinterns.

Subinterns have the chance to observe a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures performed on their patients, as well as the opportunity to perform minor procedures under appropriate supervision. Through this intensive exposure to a broad range of both oncologic and general medical problems, students will gain an appreciation for the complex management of the oncology inpatients.

Note: In the Clinical Medicine and Oncology Subinternship, students spend a full four weeks on this rotation (this includes the fourth Saturday of the rotation).