Curriculum
The Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant Hospital Internal Medicine and Critical Care Fellowship prepares you for professional practice in hospital medicine.
Trainee experience
Our curriculum is designed in a diverse format that accommodates all learner types. It includes formal didactic instruction, journal club and case review, and project-based learning through hands-on experience. You complete various medical specialty rotations that are two to four weeks in duration. The Critical Care Medicine Track offers up to 16 weeks of training in their fields in addition to the core rotations offered in the Traditional Hospitalist Track.
Curriculum areas
Our curriculum is based upon core competencies as determined by the Society of Hospital Medicine and expands into many skills, procedures, and knowledge areas.
Core competencies
These include knowledge, skills, and understanding of health care areas:
- Acute coronary syndrome
- Acute renal failure
- Alcohol and drug withdrawal
- Asthma
- Cardiac arrhythmia
- Care of the critically ill patient
- Cellulitis
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Community-acquired pneumonia
- Delirium and dementia
- Diabetes mellitus
- Gastrointestinal bleed
- Heart failure
- Hematologic disorders and malignancies
- Hospital-acquired pneumonia
- Pain management
- Perioperative medicine
- Sepsis syndromes
- Shock
- Solid tumor malignancies
- Stroke
- Urinary tract infection
- Venous thromboembolism
Skills and procedures
By the end of the fellowship year, you will have experienced performing the following skills and procedures:
- Point of Care Ultrasound
- Chest radiograph interpretation
- Electrocardiogram interpretation
- Focused patient presentation to supervising faculty
- Lumbar puncture
- Paracentesis
- Problem-focused physical exam
- Thoracentesis
- Vascular access
Health care areas
By the end of the fellowship year, you will have a working knowledge and understanding in the following health care areas:
- Care of the elderly patient
- Care of vulnerable populations
- Communication
- Diagnostic decision-making
- Drug safety, pharmacoeconomics and pharmacoepidemiology
- Equitable allocation of resources
- Evidence-based medicine
- Hospitalist NP/PA as a consultant
- Hospitalist NP/PA as a teacher
- Information management
- Leadership
- Management practices
- Nutrition and the hospitalized patient
- Palliative care
Clinical training and rotations
The Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant Hospital Internal Medicine and Critical Care Fellowship is composed of 12 rotations in the various specialty areas. Elective rotations are available if the NP or PA fellow has a strong interest in a specialty that is not included in their track.
Traditional Hospitalist Track
Clinical rotations in the Traditional Hospital Track include:
- Hematology/medical oncology
- Palliative medicine
- Cardiology Emergency medicine (elective)
- Hepatology
- Hospital internal medicine consult service
- Hospital internal medicine night service
- General hospital internal medicine
- Pulmonary medicine
- Critical care medicine
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Heart Failure/Heart Transplant
- Interventional Radiology
Critical Care Medicine Track
Clinical rotations for the Critical Care Medicine Track include:
- General hospital internal medicine
- Anesthesia
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Heart failure/heart transplant service
- Bone marrow transplant
- Emergency medicine
- Surgical subspecialties (general surgery, ENT, transplant surgery, cardiothoracic surgery)
- Critical care medicine
- Trauma and burn
- Nephrology
- Pulmonary medicine
Schedule and hours
For the majority of the fellowship, your learning schedule includes 10- or 12-hour days, five days a week, including weekends and nights.
Hours while on subspecialty rotations vary depending on the requirements and needs of the particular service. All hours worked are in accordance with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) medical resident hour restrictions.
Department and faculty
The Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant Hospital Internal Medicine and Critical Care Fellowship is coordinated and taught by the clinical, scientific, and technical staff of Mayo Clinic. Faculty members are chosen for their commitment to teaching, as well as their clinical practice and research. Many have published and lectured extensively and are highly regarded in their fields.
You have direct access to these individuals throughout your training, giving you the opportunity to learn from experienced practitioners from Mayo Clinic's Division of Hospital Internal Medicine in Arizona.
Facilities
Mayo Clinic has two campuses in Arizona. The Phoenix campus includes the state-of-the-art Mayo Clinic Hospital, the first hospital entirely designed and built by Mayo Clinic. It has been recognized several times by Phoenix magazine as the Best Hospital in Phoenix. Services in numerous medical and surgical disciplines are provided, including outstanding programs in cancer treatment and organ transplantation.
The Scottsdale campus is centered around a beautiful, five-story outpatient clinic. This modern facility contains extensive exam rooms, an outpatient surgery center equipped for general anesthesia, a full-service laboratory, pharmacy, patient education library, endoscopy suite, and a 188-seat auditorium for patient, staff, and student education programs.
Evaluation
Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences uses evaluative tools that include:
- Written examination
- Demonstration of skills
- Self-assessment exercises
- Faculty reviews
Specifically, fellows are evaluated using these assessment tools:
- End-of-rotation evaluations
- End-year project
- Midyear and end-year formal comprehensive evaluations
- Competency checklist components completed by end of fellowship training
- End project for core competency "modules" with various assessment tools
- End-year Summative Portfolio