E L E C T I V E S

DEPARTMENT OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND POPULATION HEALTH

F200 Jewish Medical Ethics - AECOM

The advances in end-of-life care have spawned a wide variety of ethical dilemmas in such areas as the determination of death, organ, transplantation, euthanasia and assisted suicide. While the secular ethical approach to these issues is often well publicized and adequately represented at many medical schools, the religious viewpoint, and in particular, that of Orthodox Judaism, is rarely given a voice. This half-module (one month) course will provide an overview of the Orthodox Jewish approach to the aforementioned issues by analyzing texts from the Bible, Talmud and Rabbinic commentaries throughout the ages.

Prerequisites: As many of the texts are in the Hebrew language, a rudimentary knowledge of Hebrew would be helpful, although not essential.

Dr. Edward Reichman
saraneddie@aol.com
Module 4B, 5A, 6B Only
Minimum 1 Maximum 2

 

F203  The Epidemiology of AIDS

This elective will examine the uses of epidemiological methods to understand the acquired immune deficiency syndrome. The course will focus on the sources and quality of that data, the inferences that can be drawn from it and its implications for patterns of the disease and development of clinical care and preventive services.

Drs. Ernest Drucker, Jerome Ernst (Contact Dr. Drucker (920-4766)
Modules 6A & 6B ONLY
Full Module

 

F204  Nutrition and the Development of Chronic Disease

There is an increasing interest in the role of nutrition and obesity in the etiology and development of chronic diseases.  Each student will be provided with guidance in reviewing literature and can potentially participate in data analysis or in developing curriculum materials.  Students can use their elective time to pursue work on a nutrition-related Independent Scholars project.  Students may have the opportunity to attend seminars and/or research meetings appropriate to the topic.  Students will meet Dr. Wylie-Rosett to select  a specific focus for this elective.

          Dr. Judith Wylie-Rosett 
          (718-430-3345)
          jwrosett@aecom.yu.edu
          All modules, Maximum 2
          Please contact Dr. Wylie-Rosett prior to the onset of the elective.

F205 Clinical Informatics and Research in Primary Care

Students will participate in developing and implementing a web-based curriculum in evaluating the e-Clinican Project (see www.eClinician.org), funded as part of the Health Alert Network of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (see www.nyc.gov/health) administered by Clinical Directors Network (see www.CDNetwork.org), a primary care practice-based research network (PBRN) in NYC.  The eClinician Project is designed to disseminate evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and to improve access to the clinical decision-support tools on handheld personal computers (HPC/PDA) for clinicians practicing in patient care.

Students will help with curriculum development and evaluation, identification of online clinical decision-support tools, and provide presentations at Community Health Centers, as well as assist with (and receive co-authorship) development of articles for publication and scientific presentations.

        Dr. Jonathan N. Tobin
        (212) 382-0699 xt. 234
        Associate Clinical Professor
        President/CEO
        Clinical Directors Network, Inc. (CDN)
        email: JNTobin@CDNetwork.org

        Full Module Only
        Max 2-4 students
Students should call before signing up for the elective (sessions are held in Manhattan and via web/telephone conference call).

F206 Tutorial in Evidence- Based Medicine

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is defined as "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients."  While Einstein students learn man of the fundamental skills of EBM during the pre-clinical years and get to develop these skills during the core clerkships, some students have sought further training in their fourth year.

Students interested in developing the skills to identify and evaluate clinically- relevant evidence can work in tutorial fashion with our faculty.  Students will select questions based on real patients; a new question will be addressed each week. A written discussion of one of these questions will be required at the end of the rotation>

          Various Faculty.
          Contact: Dr. Paul Marantz (718- 430-4187)
          Please contact Dr. Marantz prior to the onset of the elective



F207  Drug Addiction Research and Policy

This elective will provide students with a supervised experience learning about the problem of drug addiction Treatment Program. Students will have tutorial sessions with the program's Director and other staff dealing with general issues of addiction and specific medical complications of drug abuse. Clinical experiences may be arranged, with attention to medical complications of addition, AIDS, and pregnancy, depending upon student's interest. The opportunity also exists for involvement in ongoing epidemiologic studies involving the treatment population, relating to infectious diseases, acute illness and mortality statistics.

Dr. Ernest Drucker (718-920-4766)
All Modules
Full Modules

F208 The Ethics of Clinical Care

This elective will allow interested students to focus on one aspect of  the clinical or the research encounter and explore the relevant literature in medicine, law and ethics.  The elective will be conducted in tutorial fashion and will also include clinical rounds, divisional meetings and other related conferences as deemed relevant to this rotation.

The student will be responsible for an oral presentation to the Division of Bioethics and for a written or oral presentation to the Bioethics committee.

         Nancy Dubler, LIB (718) 920- 6226
         Jeffrey Blustein, PhD (718) 904- 2299
         1-2 Students
         Students should contact instructor before signing for the elective.
 

F507  The Social Context of American Medicine: A Historical Perspective

Ongoing research emphasizes the social history of the 19th and 20th century American medicine. The instructor's main focus is defining how society determines the boundaries of medicine's authority and expertise. The conflicts between chiropractic and medicine are currently being used as a probe to illuminate the limits of medicine. Research projects relevant to AIDS, medical ethics, medical education, chronic disease, the development of the hospital, and therapeutics are also being pursued.

Students are encouraged to pursue independent research. They will acquire skills in historical research, analysis and writing. Special emphasis will be placed on how history provides important data relevant to modern policy development.

Interest in other areas of the history of medicine is also encouraged. Although preference will be given to research projects, those interested in supervised readings can also be accommodated.

 

Dr. S. Martin (918-7769)
All Modules
Full-Time
Time to be arranged between student(s) and instructor
 

F520 Research-Based Health Activism Course- Montefiore Medical Center
 

Research based health activism describes a growing sector of the medical and public health worlds where the classic skills of clinical research and Epidemiology are combined with grass-roots advocacy to influence federal and state health policy, stemming the influence of private industry and market forces on public and community health.  The Department  of Social Medicine at Montefiore Hospital and Albert Einstein College of Medicine has a rich tradition of innovations in community oriented primary care and a history of progressive research and practice.  Our faculty, together with experts from throughout the New York Metropolitan area, will provide training in this growing field of research based health activism.

We have developed a unique course, which combines both didactic s and project based approaches, to the teaching of research based health activism.  Didactic lectures will introduce three major topic areas: research methods, health policy, and advocacy skills.  Individual and small group mentorship will be provided to help students utilize these skills by developing their own independent research proposal.  Other sessions will include physician-activist guest lecturers and visits to state or private health organizations that both create and influence health policy.  Finally, students will work in groups to develop a research proposal for a project which reflects their interests that can be used when completed to influence health policy.  This proposal will be presented on the final day of the curse at a luncheon including all students, the course directors, returning session leaders and Peter Lurie, MD,MPH from Public Citizen's Health Research Group.

                Galit M. Sacajiu, M.D., M.P.H
                Associate Director
                Primary Care/Social Medicine Residency Programs
                3544 Jerome Avenue
                Bronx, NY 10466
                (718) 920-5521
                Offered ONLY in October; Module 3A
                Half module only
                Maximum: 20 Students
                Please contact Zenaida Izquierdo for application and further   
                information.