DERU-4011 - Skin Diseases in Modern World Literature

DERU-4011 - Skin Diseases in Modern World Literature

Elective Title: Skin Diseases in Modern World Literature
Course Number: DERU-4011
Elective Type: career Duration/Weeks: 4 Max Enrollment: 1
Prerequisites: Successful completion of Year 2
Additional Requirements: N/A
Responsible Faculty Director: Richard Wagner, MD Periods Offered: 1-13 including holiday period 8 
Coordinator: Reynol Lopez Other Faculty:
Location to Report on First Day:
Virtual on TEAMS

Goals
The major goal of this elective is to learn to critically analyze skin diseases and the roles they play in the context of three famous works of world literature (The Plague, Cancer Ward, and The Centaur) and critically compare them to a contemporary novel that also involves skin disease. Students will have an opportunity to read contemporary descriptions about skin diseases by medical or non-medical authors and evaluate accuracy with regard to disease presentation, natural history and therapeutic interventions, if any. The dermatology library will provide the first three novels to each enrolled student for use during the Period. This library also has at least one edition of each contemporary novel for week 4 work that may be borrowed on a "first request" basis at the beginning of each Period.

Objectives
1. Detailed reading and critical analysis of three major works of literature by Camus (The Plague), Solzhenitsyn (Cancer Ward) and Updike (The Centaur) containing descriptions of skin diseases.
2. Analysis of a more recent novel during the last week of this course from a list of selected books in the context of the previous readings and class discussions (see below).

Description of course activities
During the first class meeting a lecture will be given about literary criticism, author background and how to write a critical essay. During the first week students will read The Plague (Camus, 1947, 308 pages) and discuss it in class with regard to the infectious disease (along with its skin manifestations) described and its central role in the book. During the second week, students will read Cancer Ward (Solzhenitsyn, 1968, 576 pages) and discuss neoplastic diseases including melanoma in the context of life in the former Soviet Union. During the third week, students will read The Centaur (Updike, 1963, 299 pages) and discuss the role psoriasis played in character development throughout the novel. During the last week of the course, students will select one of 19 recent novels listed on the course syllabus with a variety of different skin diseases. You will write a critical literary review about the new work in the context of the previous readings and discussions held during the class.

Students must attend all scheduled classes to receive course credit or complete a written assignment for absence to be excused. There are no makeup classes. Students must keep a detailed reading logbook that documents the number of hours spent each day reading the assigned materials and recording questions the student has about the reading for discussion during the next class period. Dr. Wagner will review these student journals during each class period. The novels required for this course are all available in the dermatology library and may be borrowed for the class.

Type of students who would benefit from the course
Students interested in skin diseases and their impact on modern literature are encouraged to take this class.

Weekly Schedule
  Clinical Activities (estimated schedule)  
Day of Week   AM   PM
Monday 3:00-5:00
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday 3:00-5:00
Saturday
Sunday

 Average number of patients seen per week: none
 Call Schedule: none

Research Activities (estimated schedule)
Activity Hours per Week
Faculty Contact-Time 4
Self-Directed Study 30+
Data-Collection/Analysis 2
Other This is a reading-intensive course. During the last week students will be required to read the last novel and write a 5-10 page original essay.

Method of Student Evaluation
1.  Clinical Observation
  A. Where are students observed on this elective?
    Inpatient Service   Ambulatory   Surgery   Standardized patients
Patients simulators   Other
  B. Frequency - How often are students observed clinically?
    There is no clinical component to this elective.
  C. Format - What method(s) are used to document the student's clinical performance?
    Daily oral feedback   End of period oral feedback   Written feedback
Other

2.  Oral Presentation
  A. Audience - To whom does the student present?
    Students taking this course are expected to be prepared for each class and to contribute to class discussions.
  B. Frequency / Duration of Presentation(s)?
    There are eight scheduled class periods during this course. Students must attend all 8 classes to receive course credit.
  C. Format - What guidelines are set for the student's presentation?
    Participation in class discussion during each class meeting.
  D. Assessment - Who assesses the student's presentation performance?
    Self-assessment   Peer assessment   Faculty assessment
  E. Method of content selection
    Current cases  Student-selected topic   Assigned topic

3.  Written Assignment (H&P's, notes, papers, abstracts, etc.)
  A. Frequency of written assignment(s)?
    A final 5-10 page original essay as described above must be electronically submitted to rfwagner@utmb.edu by 5 pm on the last Friday of the period in order to receive course credit.
  B. Format - What guidelines are set for the student's written work?
    5-10 page original critical essay about a modern novel about skin diseases (student to select novel from a course reading list.
  C. Length of written assignment(s)?
    Abstract   Annotated bibliography   1 - 2 page paper   3+ page paper
  D. Are recent references required?   No    If yes, how are they selected?
    Students are encouraged to provide references in their paper as needed.
  E. Method of content selection - e.g. student-selected, relate to cases, etc.?
    Students select the novel for their critical essay from a course reading list (described above).
  F. Audience - Who assesses the student's written performance?
    Peer Assessment     Faculty Assessment     Other

4.  Examination
  Format
    Oral   Written multiple choice   Written essay / short answer   OSCE
Other

5.  Extra Course Activities
  What expectations do you have for the student to demonstrate participation in the elective (e.g. small group activities, seminars, thoughtful questions, providing resources, journal club, resident lecture attendance)?
    N/A

6.  Additional Costs
  Please list any additional costs and/or purchases (books, materials, movies to watch, etc.) that are required for this course. Include an estimated total cost. If there are no additional costs, please enter "None".
    None

7.  Other Modes of Evaluation
  Please explain below.
   

8.  If this course is an Acting Internship, please complete the following:
  A. Objectives for the AI should relate directly to the Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs). Each AI should describe how the four key Year-4 EPAs that our school has identified as being Year-4 skills are assessed. The Year-4 objectives are:
1. Entering and discussing orders/prescriptions.
2. Give or receive patient handover to transition care responsibility.
3. Recognizing a patient requiring urgent or emergent care and initiating management.
4. Obtaining informed consent for tests and procedures.
Specify how the student will be given formative feedback on their clinical skills.
   
 
B.

Year-4 students should demonstrate mastery of EPAs they developed in the clerkship year, including recommending and interpreting common diagnostic and screening tests, and performing general procedures of a physician. They should be able to demonstrate masterfully and independently skills they mastered in Years 2-3, including efficiently performing comprehensive admission-notes and succinct daily progress notes and perform accurate, concise, and hypothesis-driven clinical presentations, form clinical questions and retrieve evidence to advance patient care. They should be able to demonstrate basic understanding of and beginning mastery of collaborate as a member of the interprofessional team and identify system failures and contribute to a culture of safety improvement.

List advanced clinical skills that a student will be assured an opportunity to practice.
   
 
C.

How specifically will this AI build on developing skills from the clerkship year to prepare students for internship?
   
 
D.

What opportunities will typically be available to all students who take this AI (procedures, required presentations, etc.)? What opportunities may be available based on patient load/presentation or student initiative (ie. Writing a case report)?
   
 
E.

An AI should have expectation of a minimum of 32 hours per week of clinical responsibilities. Duty hours should be capped at ACGME limits for an intern, thus up to 24 hours followed by 4 hours of activities related to patient safety, education, and handoff. Students cannot work more than 80 hours per week averaged over 4 weeks. They can only have 1 day off in a 7-day work week with 8 hours off between shifts.

Clinical responsibilities will vary depending on specialty, but how is the student functioning with work commensurate to a PGY1 with an appropriate level of training?
   
 
F.

How is the student demonstrating drawing clinical conclusions and/or developing a management plan and documentation as an intern would do?
   
 
G.

How and by whom will midpoint feedback be provided to the student? How will you remediate deficiencies identified at midpoint?
   
 
H.

Acting Internship students often seek letters of recommendation following their experience. How many different Faculty will work directly with the student and have knowledge of the student's abilities to detail in a written evaluation? Describe the degree of supervision and interaction with faculty vs. residents or other providers and how feedback will be obtained if more direct work is with residents or other providers.