An adequate history and physical examination are fundamental to the clinical diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions. To that end, this course will teach the student how to perform a medical history and thorough physical examination and accurately record the findings.
The Essentials of Patient Care (EPC) curriculum consists of four semester-long courses. During EPC I & II, basic history and physical examination skills are taught from an organ systems-based approach. This is accomplished through a multifaceted approach of didactic instruction, hands-on experiential instruction and standardized patient encounters. Additionally, the student is introduced to features of common pathologic conditions associated with these systems in order to bring relevance to early clinical learning. Throughout these two semesters and the following two, emphasis is placed on the patient-centered approach to clinical medicine.
The specific subject matter of this course is as follows: