Common outpatient complaints

Each students' clinical experience during this rotation will be rich and varied. There are, however, several common outpatient complaints, chronic medical conditions, and issues in prevention that all students should gain familiarity in managing. Although preceptors will attempt to identify patients with a broad array of clinical problems and concerns for the student to evaluate, students may not have the opportunity to see patients with all the problems listed below. Therefore, it will be the students' ultimate responsibility to read and learn about these common problems. The student's knowledge in these areas will be tested by a final examination given by the clerkship directors on the last half day of the rotation.

A. Evaluate patients with undifferentiated complaints. Students will learn to assess a presenting symptom and formulate a differential diagnosis and management plan. To do this effectively, the students will learn to perform focused history and physical examination within the time constraints of an outpatient encounter. Students will learn to prioritize patient problems and to develop appropriate management plans.

B. Common outpatient complaints