Published using Google Docs
WFU Medicine Course Syllabus
Updated automatically every 5 minutes

Making the Rounds: An Insider’s Guide to Become a Doctor

Course Description:  

In this immersive online course designed exclusively for high school students, you’ll learn all about medicine and patient care through the full lifecycle of a patient who has a heart attack. You will experience the heart attack alongside the patient, witness the initial triaging of care by first responders and emergency medical staff, travel with the patients to the heart cath lab and the operating room, and experience post-surgical care and rehabilitation. You will have the opportunity to meet doctors, residents, students, nurses, and other medical practitioners who care for patients. You will learn about the latest medical technology that drives the treatment of heart attacks and be exposed to some of the societal and social factors that shape our modern healthcare industry. This course culminates with a capstone project for students to “deep dive” into one of the key concepts of the course.

Course Objectives:

Throughout this course students will:

  1. Define the signs, symptoms and pathology of a heart attack
  2. Recognize the different treatments for a heart attack including medical, procedural, and surgical options
  3. Identify the different healthcare providers who care for patients during an illness and understand their role in the healthcare team and training pathways
  4. Define social determinants of health and how they can impact health outcomes for patients

Final Project:

Students should record an audio narrated Powerpoint presentation where they take a “deep dive” into one of the concepts they learned about in the modules (see list below). Presentations should be no longer than seven minutes and reflect learnings from the course material and beyond.

Options:

  1. The cost of drug prices and the consequences for patient health
  2. The role of healthcare access in contributing to healthcare outcomes
  3. The impact of health policy on how patient care is delivered
  4. The juvenile obesity epidemic and its impact on future heart disease and health
  5. The physician shortage and how it contributes to health outcomes, particularly in rural communities
  6. How is telemedicine changing the way we deliver healthcare?

Student presentations should follow the SBAR outline (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation):

Course Outline

Unit 1: Introduction to Course

Learning Objectives:

  1. Name the chambers of the heart and identify the major coronary vessels
  2. Define social determinants of health (SDH) and identify relevant SDH for our patient case

Topics:

Unit 2: Home to Emergency Department

Learning Objectives:

  1. Describe the roles and training of paramedics and EMTs
  2. Define the ABCs used to stabilize a sick patient and recognize normal and abnormal vital signs
  3. Identify different components of an ambulance and how they are used to manage patients en route to the hospital
  4. Recognize the signs and symptoms of a heart attack in men and women
  5. Understand the impact of nicotine on heart disease

Topics:

Medicine Assignment:

  1. Create a chart where you compare and contrast signs and symptoms of a heart attack between men and women.  Look for symptoms that can be seen in both sexes and ones which may be more common in men or women
  2. Identify at least 5 risk factors for heart disease.  

Problems Facing Healthcare Discussion:

  1. Use the CDC website to identify the rates of tobacco use amongst adults and amongst teenagers in your state. Is the percentage of tobacco use higher or lower than what you would have thought?  
  2. Read this article linking vaping/e-cigarette use to heart disease and write a one paragraph summary of the findings.

Unit 3: Emergency Department to Cath Lab

Learning Objectives:

  1. Recognize the steps required to evaluate and manage a patient with acute onset chest pain
  2. Correlate the heart anatomy with findings on an EKG
  3. Identify the role of anesthesia in the heart catheterization lab
  4. Define atherosclerosis and describe the components of an atherosclerotic plaque

Topics:

Medicine Assignment:

  1. Define the term atherosclerosis, and describe what components are needed to make a coronary artery plaque
  2. What medications are used to prevent atherosclerosis?

Problems Facing Healthcare Discussion:

  1. Read the following article regarding healthcare disparities in treatment of heart disease in minority patients and pay specific attention to Table 2.
  2. Write a one paragraph summary of the article and suggest one idea to improve heart disease outcomes in minority populations.

Unit 4: Cath Lab to Operating Room

Learning Objectives:

  1. Name the different healthcare team members who are vital to the successful operating room
  2. Describe the basic steps in a successful open heart surgery case
  3. List one mechanism for keeping patients safe in the operating room
  4. Identify at least one heart condition unique to pediatric patients
  5. Recognize one way racism has impacted the field of medicine

Topics:

Medicine Assignment:

  1. We have learned about the diagnosis and management of adult heart disease. Review this website from Mayo Clinic on most common congenital heart disease in babies and children and answer the following questions:
  1. What does congenital heart defect mean?
  2. What are some of the signs a baby may have a heart defect?
  3. What is a ventricular septal defect?
  4. What is Tetralogy of Fallot?

Problems Facing Healthcare Discussion:

  1. Disparities in healthcare extend beyond minority patients to affect minorities pursuing careers in medicine. Read about Dr. Vivien Thomas, a famous black surgeon who pioneered congenital heart disease surgery. Consider watching “Something the Lord Made” about Dr. Vivien Thomas.
  1. Write a one paragraph reflection on his story
  1. Summarize at least one of the current initiatives to recruit under-represented minorities (URM) in medicine as found on the AAMC website

Unit 5: Post- Surgical Hospital Care

Learning Objectives:

  1. Describe the roles that medical students and residents play on a healthcare team
  2. Learn how ultrasound is used to monitor the heart function without the need for radiation
  3. List the obstacles to hospital discharge and how social workers help facilitate discharge planning
  4. List the complications of open heart surgery
  5. Recognize the financial cost of a new serious illness to a patient’s budget

Topics:

Medicine Assignment:

  1. What are potential complications seen in the post-operative period after a CABG or open heart surgery?
  2. What types of patients are at highest risk of complications?

Problems Facing Healthcare Discussion:

  1. What is the financial impact to a patient after this type of illness? Look up the cost of our patients’ new medications on goodrx.com for a month supply. Notice how the price of the medication can vary based on which pharmacy the patient uses. Look up the cost of these generic meds. Then see what the difference would be if the doctor prescribed brand name Plavix instead of clopidogrel and brand name Glucophage instead of metformin.
  1. Aspirin 325 mg daily
  2. Clopidogrel 75 mg daily OR Plavix 75 mg daily
  3. Lisinopril 20 mg daily
  4. Hydrochlorothiazide 25 mg daily
  5. Metoprolol 25 mg twice daily
  6. Atorvastatin 80 mg daily
  7. Metformin 500 mg twice daily OR Glucophage 500 mg twice daily

Unit 6: Cardiac Rehab

Learning Objectives:

  1. Understand the roles of a physical therapist (PT) and occupational therapist (OT) for evaluating needs and recommending rehabilitation treatment
  2. Describe the typical functions evaluated in rehab unit
  3. Recognize what foods are on a heart healthy diet
  4. Identify the benefits of FMLA protection

Topics:

Medicine Assignment:

  1. Describe several diseases where patients would be recommended to attend cardiopulmonary rehabilitation

Problems Facing Healthcare Discussion:

  1. What the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and why was this enacted?
  2. What medical conditions qualify for FMLA and what does FMLA protect for the employee?

Unit 7: Post-Hospital Healthcare

Learning Objectives:

  1. Identify which types of providers care for a patient after hospitalization
  2. Recognize the signs and symptoms of high and low blood sugar
  3. Apply new technology to determine a patient’s risk for a heart attack
  4. Discover the benefits and shortcomings to social media as a source of health information

Topics:

Problems Facing Healthcare Discussion:

  1. How do patients use social media to educate themselves on their disease? Log onto a social media platform (Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram) and identify one “reputable” information example for heart attacks and one “questionable” information example for heart attacks. How are these two sources different?

Unit 8: Course Conclusion: Debrief on Medical Case

Learning Objectives:

  1. Reflect upon new knowledge of heart disease and its management
  2. Define how social determinants of health can impact a patient’s care and outcome
  3. Apply knowledge from course to current problems in healthcare

Topics:

Capstone Project Presentation:

As described above, students should record an audio narrated Powerpoint presentation where they take a “deep dive” into one of the concepts they learned about in the modules. Presentation should be no longer than seven minutes and 15 slides.

Program and Class Policies 

Academic Requirements

  1. In order to receive a Certificate of Completion, students must receive an evaluation of  “Complete” 70% of  assignments (4 of the 5 end-of-module assignments) and the Final Project. All assignments and the final project need to be submitted by the end of the course.
  2. Decisions regarding program completion, Certificates of Completion, and other awards are at the discretion of the School. If you are deemed ineligible for a Certificate of Completion, you will not be entitled to any refund or compensation.

Evaluation Criteria/Rubric

Each unit assignment, as well as the Final Project will be assessed on a rubric of:

Technical Requirements

This online course will be conducted using the Canvas online learning management system. Students should log into Canvas regularly to complete  all course modules, assignments, and announcements. You are responsible for meeting and maintaining the minimum technical requirements for the course, including internet access and basic computer specifications necessary for using the Canvas Learning Management System.

Mobile Devices 

Your course may offer content and features that are available via a mobile device. Standard messaging, data and other fees may be charged by your carrier.  Your carrier may prohibit or restrict certain mobile features and certain mobile features may be incompatible with your carrier or mobile device. Contact your carrier with questions regarding these issues.  

Course Mentors

Students will have opportunities along their journey to engage with a mentor for questions, guidance and feedback for both their assignments throughout the course and the final project. Mentors will provide support and encouragement at predetermined moments throughout the course.

Student Code of Conduct

We may remove from the course any students whom we deem in our discretion to be disruptive to the learning environment, dangerous to other students, have acted in a manner that shows lack of dignity or respect for faculty and/or students, violated any intellectual property rights, or have engaged in academic misconduct, such as cheating or violating confidentiality. If you are removed from the course for  violations of this Code of Conduct you will not be eligible for a Certificate of Completion, refund, or any other award or compensation.

Intellectual Property

This course is for your personal and non-commercial use only.  The course may not be shared, re-sold, reproduced, re-published, modified, transferred or distributed in any way without our prior written permission.  All video, audio, text, animations, books, diagrams, images and other content that you receive or to which you have access during your course or through your use of the course, regardless of medium or format,  are protected by copyright law.  You may not download, record, screenshot, copy or reproduce course content in any way. You may not make any audio and/or video recording of any part of the course. You may not attempt to decompile, reverse engineer, scrape or datamine the course. Trademarks, logos, and service marks displayed or otherwise used in the course are registered trademarks and may not be used without prior, written permission.  You may have access to digital versions of course content. Subject to your compliance with these terms and conditions, we grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, revocable and non-transferable license to access course content during your program.

Terms & Conditions

The policies listed above are a subset of the Terms & Conditions for the program. You may review the complete Terms & Conditions here.

The University reserves the right to modify the course as may become necessary.

 

Meet Your Instructors

Dr. Lindsay Strowd

Assistant Professor, Dermatology

Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Dr. Roy Strowd

Assistant Professor, Neurology and Oncology

Wake Forest University School of Medicine