Healthcare Epidemiology Practicum Rotation for Postgraduate Physician Trainees in Medicine–Infectious Diseases

Abstract

Practicum education in healthcare epidemiology and infection control (HEIC) for postgraduate physician trainees in infectious diseases is necessary to prepare them to be future participants and leaders in patient safety. Voss et al suggested that training in HEIC should be offered as a “common trunk” for physicians being trained in clinical microbiology or infectious diseases. A 1-month rotation has been recommended previously. A survey by Joiner et al indicated that only 50% of infectious diseases fellows found the infection control training adequate. The objective of this article is to report our 2-year experience with a 1-month practicum rotation we designed and implemented at our institution.The setting is the Adult Infectious Diseases fellowship program at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW), Dallas, Texas. The fellows have clinical rotations at the Parkland Health and Hospital System, UTSW University hospitals, North Texas Veterans Affairs Health Care System, and Children's Medical Center Dallas. The 2-year program recruits 7 fellows every 2 years. The 1-month core rotation was established in July 2011 and is ongoing. Fellows who completed the rotation during the period July 2011 to April 2013 are included in this study.