Elective Years 3 & 4: Inpatient Cancer Care Hospitalist

Family Medicine/ Cross Cancer Institute Inpatient Units

Inpatient Cancer Care Hospitalist

Diversification = R1 Family Medicine

2 weeks  **This elective is full and no longer accepting elective requests for academic year 2023-24.**

Mary Burns, Program Administrator, Medical Oncology: medonc@ualberta.ca

Placement Contact: Nicole Stubbs fmunder@ualberta.ca

The inpatient aspect of cancer patients is the objective of this rotation. Medical students will be introduced to a growing patient population, the cancer patient.

Adult medicine medical issues will be managed and treated in the context of the cancer patient, who, themselves, are on a spectrum of disease trajectory from active care with curative prognoses to end of life and palliative care. The student will be exposed to high acuity medical issues in a variety of settings. Chemotherapy, stem cell transplants and radiation therapy will be part of the day to day of these patients, who often have challenging comorbidities including oncologic emergencies or other acute medical issues, including acute kidney injury, congestive health failure, pneumonias, bowel and colonic obstructions, pathologic fractures, and so on.

Students will be given an opportunity to observe procedures and participate in code blue resuscitations. If patient consent is obtained, students may perform a limited number of procedures.

Completing this elective should:

Introduce the student to patients who are with cancer and in active treatment.

Introduce the student to oncologic emergencies: febrile neutropenia, spinal cord compression, superior vena cave syndrome, hypercalcemia, sepsis, hyperviscosity, DIC, tumour lysis syndrome.

Gain familiarity with radiation therapy and side effect.

Apply knowledge about the side effects of chemotherapy and manage the same.

Demonstrate knowledge of pathology, physiology, anatomy for adult internal medicine patients and participate in the formulation of treatment plans of inpatients with cancer and comorbidities.

Introduce the student to patients with cancer and at the end of the life phase.

Recognize the patient who is at the end of life and gain familiarity with active palliative care.

Gain familiarity with MAID, if possible.

University of Alberta Students request this elective through MedSIS.

Connect Care training is required.

3rd and 4th-year medical students. Please apply at least 3 months in advance of the preferred start date.