E L E C T I V E S
DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY
& SOCIAL MEDICINE
FM1 Family
Medicine Inpatient Service |
FM2 Community-Oriented
Primary Care |
FM3
Culture and Care|
FM4 Family,
Systems, and Health | FM5 Complementary
Therapies and Alternative Healing |FM6
Preceptorship in Wound Care |
FM7 Adolescent
Health Care in a Family and Community Context |
FM8 Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Health |
FM9 Care for
the Homeless |
FM11 Political
Economy of Health Care |
FM12 Understanding
Health Systems |
FM13 The Medical-Industrial
Complex |
FM14 Community
Assessment, Research, and Epidemiology |
FMR
Research Elective |
FM01
Reproductive Health |
FM 02 Health Promotion/Disease Prevention/ Quality Improvement |
FM03
School Based Health Care | FM 23 Management
| FM24 Inner City Family Medicine
Inpatient Service |
FM25 Inner City Family Medicine Ambulatory Care
Externship |
FM26
Understanding the Spiritual & Religious Dimension of Patients |
FM27
Palliative Medicine Consultation Service |
FM28
Palliative Care Elective |
FM29 Global Health |
FM30 Medical Spanish Immersion in the Bronx

The following
electives are offered by the faculty of the Department of Family and
Social Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center and it’s Family Practice
Residency in the Montefiore Residency Program in Social Medicine, 3544
Jerome Avenue, Bronx, New York 10467 and departmental faculty in the
Department’s Research Division, 1300 Morris Park Avenue, Mazer Building,
Suite 100; Bronx, NY 10461
PLEASE NOTE: ROTATIONS LABELED ALL MODULES MAY OCCASIONALLY
BE UNAVAILABLE DUE TO CONFLICTING FACULTY RESPONSIBILITIES.
PLEASE CONFIRM AVAILABILITY WITH SPONSORING FACULTY.
FM1
Family Medicine Inpatient Service: Montefiore Medical Center
The Department of Family Medicine offers a four-week
elective on its inpatient unit on Rosenthal D in the Moses Division of
Montefiore Medical Center. Students
will work with an interdisciplinary team of family practice attendings and
residents, nurse, social workers and clinical pharmacist to provide family
centered care to adult patients admitted from the Department’s health
centers and practices in the Montefiore Medical Group and from the
Emergency Room. Students will assume primary responsibility for management of
patients under the supervision of the family practice residents and
attendings. There will be
opportunities to participate in the Department’s core family practice
and social medicine curriculum activities, to attend conferences and to
see patients on half day/ week (if desired) at the Montefiore Family
Health Center. In addition to
learning traditional inpatient management skills for adult patients, the
student will grow in the understanding of the psychosocial impact of
illness and in working families of different cultures.
Barbara Sanders, M.D
(718) 920-4678
bsanders@montefiore.org
All Modules
Maximum
2 students per Module
Interested students should contact the instructor before
registering for this elective.
FM2:
Community-Oriented Primary Care
This elective introduces the student to the model of
community-oriented primary care as developed by Dr. Sidney Kark and his
co-workers in Israel and South Africa.
An entire movement of primary care leaders, practitioners, and
researchers has adapted this model, integrating primary care and public
health. Students will work at
one of our community-based projects such as health care for the homeless
team, a mental health program for Southeast Asian immigrants, or a lead
poisoning prevention program. The
elective is tailored to the individual student’s interest.
Hal Strelnick, M.D.
(718) 920-4678
hstrelni@montefiore.org
All Modules
Interested students should contact the instructor before
registering for this elective.
FM3C
Culture and Care
This elective will address the complexities of caring for
people from diverse cultural and class backgrounds, integrating
sociological and anthropological concepts into medical practice. Students will have the opportunity to see patients from
diverse social-cultural backgrounds at a community health clinic to
examine the medical problems in relation to diverse social-cultural
determinants. Through
readings, videotape reviews and tutorials, they will learn about health
benefits and practices, alternative explanatory models, immigrant health
issues and it’s impact on doctor-patient relationship and health care in
general.
Eliana Korin, Dipl. Psych.
(718) 920- 4678
ekorin@aecom.yu.edu
All Modules
Interested students should contact the instructor before
registering for this elective.
FM4
Family, Systems and Health
This elective will focus on family factors influencing
health and the doctor- patient relationship.
Topics addressed include somatization, chronic and terminal
illness. The student will
have the opportunity to learn family functioning assessment techniques
relevant to primary care practice. Individual
tutorial with group teaching and patient care will be available.
Eliana Korin, Dipl. Psych.
(718) 920- 4678
ekorin@montefiore.org
Joanna Dognin, Psy D
All Modules
Students should contact instructor before registering for
this elective.
FM5
Complementary Therapies and Alternative Healing
This elective will provide the student with supervised
exposure to complementary therapies and alternative healing methods in
primary care settings (e.g. community health center and small practice).
Among the therapies to be covered are meditation, relaxation
techniques, acupuncture, acupressure, biofeedback, shiatsu massage, herbal
medicine, etc.
Ellen Tattelman, M.D.
(718)
920-4678
etattelm@montefiore.org
Students should contact
Dr. Tattelman prior to registering
for this elective.
FM6
Preceptorship in Wound Healing
Chronic wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers, venous
stasis ulcers, and pressure ulcers, are highly prevalent in chronically
ill and elderly patients. They represent a significant public health
burden and cause untold morbidity, disability, and mortality. In this
elective, students will learn how to evaluate patients with chronic
wounds; diagnose underlying factors that lead to physiologically
impaired healing; formulate evidence-based treatment plans including
topical, medical, surgical, and biologic treatment modalities; apply
basic techniques of wound debridement; recognize secondary complications
of wounds; and prevent wound recurrence. In addition, students will
gain experience in optimizing patient safety during surgical management
of patients with complex co-morbid disease. Upon completion of this
elective, students will have the skills to become leaders in saving
lives and limbs for patients with chronic wounds. This course is highly
relevant to students entering a variety of career paths, including but
not limited to family medicine, internal medicine, surgery, plastic
surgery, geriatrics, rehabilitation medicine, endocrinology, and
infectious disease. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in
ongoing research in addition to their clinical work. The elective can be
tailored to students’ specific interests, in discussion with the
instructor. Please contact the instructor before registering for this
elective.
Anna Flattau, MD, MSc.
annaflattau@yahoo.com
(718) 920-4678
All Modules
Please contact the instructor before registering for this elective.
FM7
Adolescent Health Care in a Family & Community Context
This elective will examine the care of adolescents from a
family and community perspective. Adolescence
as an individual and developmental phase as well as its influence on the
family life cycle, will be explored through readings and patient care
encounters. The student will
have the opportunity to work with adolescents and their families in
family-focused, school-based, and street-outreach settings.
Discussion and analysis of common adolescent health issues such as
violence, suicide, sexuality and family dynamics will occur with a focus
on health maintenance and prevention.
Victoria Gorski, M.D.
(718) 920-4678
vgorski@montefiore.org
All Modules
Students should contact the instructor before registering
for this elective.
FM8
The Health and Healthcare Needs of Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender
Community
This elective will examine the health and healthcare needs
of the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) patients through readings,
patient encounters and community based experience. Available areas of study include life cycle, bias, violence,
identify, health promotion, prevention and clinical practice.
There will be opportunity to work with community based
organizations such as the Bronx Lesbian and Gay health Resource Consortium
(www.blghrc.org) and clinical
experience with providers interested and experienced in providing care for
this diverse community.
Dr. Peter Meacher
(718) 991-0605
pmeacher@montefiore.org
Dr. Robert Beil
rbeil@montefiore.org
Interested students should contact the instructors before
registering for this elective.
FM9
Health Care for Marginalized Populations
This elective gives the student the opportunity to work as
part of the multidisciplinary team, which provides health care to homeless
persons, HIV infected individuals living in single room occupancy hotels
(SRO) and substance abusers at methadone treatment programs.
Care is given in designated shelters, SRO hotels, community based
organizations and methadone clinics.
Students will be able to understand how care can be delivered
outside of the traditional health care system to underserved populations
and the challenges associate with non-traditional health care delivery.
Pamela Mund, M.D.
(917)
919-1323
pmund@montefiore.org
All Modules
Students should contact the instructor before registering
for this elective.
FM11
Political Economy of Health Care
This elective will provide the student with a research
and/or tutorial experience in the study of economic and political dynamics
of the American health care system as part of the ongoing research of the
faculty.
Hal Strelnick, M.D.
(718)
920- 4678
hstrelni@montefiore.org
All Modules
Students should contact the instructor before registering
for this elective.
FM12
Understanding Health Systems and Health Teams
This course introduces the student to the development of
the American Health system and to the current role of health teams in it.
This introduction will include the history of American medicine, a
history of the hospital, the development of public and private insurance,
innovations in the public and private delivery health services, issues in
health manpower (including unionization and nursing), health care
regulation, comparative health systems and health planning.
Special emphasis will be given to health teams through case studies
and role-playing exercises.
Hal Strelnick, M.D. and guest speakers
(718) 920- 4678
hstrelni@montefiore.org
Module 6B only
Interested students should contact the instructor
before registering for this elective.
FM13
The Medical-Industrial Complex
This elective gives students research experience in the
study of what the New England Journal of Medicine, Fortune and Health/PAC
have called the “medical industrial complex”.
Students will conduct supervised study and the research on selected
aspect of the health industry, including pharmaceuticals, hospital and
medical supplies, health insurance, infant formula and hospital and
nursing home corporations among others.
Hal Strelnick, M.D.
(718) 920- 4678
hstrelni@montefiore.org
All Modules
The student should contact the instructor before
registering for this elective.
FM14
Community Assessment, Research & Epidemiology
This course will introduce the student to the place of
clinical and social Epidemiology within primary care practice.
Emphasis will be given to questions of community needs, assessments
defining community, measures of health status, survey and screening
techniques, sociocultural impacts upon health and diseases and basis
research design. Students
will develop a research project from data gathered in their own practices.
Critical approaches to methodology and to the medical literature
will be developed. Problems
with particular data sources (e.g. birth certificates) will be reviewed.
Hal Strelnick, M.D. and guest speakers
(718) 920-4678
hstrelni@montefiore.org
Module 3A only
Interested students should contact the instructor
before registering for this elective.
FMR
Research Elective
Students who are interested in primary care, epidemiologic
or health services research may arrange to work with a faculty member of
the Research Division in the department of Family Medicine and Community
health on a project related to his or her area of interest. The Department has a strong and diverse research faculty
including, Epidemiologist, qualitative researchers and family physician
researchers who have a variety of ongoing projects in which students can
participate and add to. Some
areas of current research include; domestic violence, women’s and
adolescent’s health, diabetes, community oriented primary care, chronic
illness, culture and health, asthma, health disparities, mental health,
end of life care, and car for underserved communities.
Interested students will be matched with a faculty supervisor whose
research area and expertise best matches the student’s interest and
goals.
Diane McKee, M.D. and colleagues
(718) 430-2154 or (718)
430-2750
mckee@aecom.yu.edu
All Modules, depending
upon faculty availability.
Interested students should contact the instructor before
registering for this elective.
FM01
Reproductive Health
This rotation involves clinical experience and some
qualitative research in reproductive health as an integral part of
ambulatory primary care. The
student will have the opportunity to work with individual patients as they
come for care at the Montefiore Family Health Center under the supervision
of Dr. Gold and other family physicians.
The training will involve all aspects of reproductive health care
and will include advanced training in interviewing and counseling skills
to address related psychosocial issues.
Students may also participate in ongoing qualitative research in
this area, which includes interviewing women and men about their ideas and
experiences with various aspects of reproductive health care in the
primary setting.
Dr. Marji Gold and colleagues
(718) 920-2885
mgold@aecom.yu.edu
Interested students should contact instructor before
registering for this elective.
FM02
Health Promotion/ Disease Prevention/ Quality Improvement at the
Montefiore Family Health Center
The purpose of this elective is to introduce the student to approaches to
prevention and quality improvement in primary care practice.
Students will be involved in patient and provider education
activities related to preventing important chronic diseases.
These will include smoking cessation and other lifestyle changes,
which can improve outcomes in patients with diabetes and hypertension, and
prevent or forestall the development of such problems.
The student will work directly with Dr. Zach Posen, Medical
Director of the Montefiore Family Health Center, a federally funded
community health center and residency-training site in a culturally
diverse, medically underserved neighborhood.
Dr. Rosen and other medical and nursing staff will work with each
student to design a rotation, which includes involvement in current
activities in patient/provider education and quality improvement.
Dr. Zachary Rosen
(718) 933-2400
zbr@mindspring.com
Interested students should contact the instructor before
registering for this elective.
FM03
School-Based Health Care
The Montefiore School Health Program is offering clinical
electives for fourth year medical students on School-Based Health Care.
Electives may take either of the following forms:
-
Full
time, four week elective is School-Based Health Care (SBHC).
-
One
session per week for 4 weeks elective in Adolescent Reproductive
Health Care.
The full-time elective
will involve seminars on core SBHC topics including journal discussions
and case presentations. Students
will also see patients at the site with preceptors, which include
pediatricians, family physicians and nurse practitioners.
Opportunities will be provided to conduct group activities on well
established curricula like the “Open Airways for Schools” and the
“Cooking with Kids”. Students
will also gain exposure on the conduct of interdisciplinary approach to
patient care.
The limited four-week elective will focus on clinical
encounters with adolescent patients in the SBHC. The experience will also include the conduct of family
planning and STD prevention groups.
Dr. David Appel
(718) 696-4070
dapple@montefiore.org
All Modules
Interested students should contact the instructor before
registering for this elective.
FM23
Management Practicum
This elective is offered to students interested in learning
first-hand how a clinical practice is run administratively.
Participating students will become familiar with Billing and
Coding, Managed Care Principles, office staff coordination and triage
skills. Students will also
learn ICD-9 CPT coding, E&M Coding and insurance information.
At the end of the elective, students will have increased quality of
care, reimbursement and time management skills.
Dr. Russell Perry
(718) 901-8749 or (718)
901- 8722
sbirth@bronxleb.org
All Modules
Interested students should contact Dr. Perry’s assistant,
Ms. Star Birth, before registering for this elective.
FM24
Inner City Medicine Inpatient Service- Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center
This is a four-week elective working as a subintern on a
Family Medicine Inpatient Unit staff by Family Practice Residents and
Attendings, including a full-time Family Practice Hospitalist.
The unit uses an interdisciplinary, holistic approach to care
working closely with nurses, social workers and others.
Students will be assigned responsibilities similar to those of a
Family Medicine Intern with patient load adjusted for skill and interest
of the student; participation in daily teaching rounds, morning report and
weekly grand rounds is expected. Dr. Sacco has a particular interest in Pain Management and
the unit delivers care to a large number of patients with Sickle Cell
Anemia, as well as, the more common diagnoses such as, HIV, diabetes,
hypertension and asthma. An
opportunity to see ambulatory patients at Fulton Family Practice can be
arranged one half day per week if desired.
Dr. Purnima Garg
(718) 901-8749 or (718)
901- 8238
pgarg@bronxleb.org
All Modules
Interested student should contact the instructor before
registering for this elective.
FM25
Inner City Family Medicine Ambulatory Care Externship- Bronx-Lebanon
Hospital Center
The Department of Family Practice offers 4 week elective in
one Bronx Lebanon Family Practice Ambulatory Care site (Ogden).
Students will work with a multidisciplinary team of family practice
attendings, residents, nurses and behavioral scientist.
Students will assume primary responsibilities for the management of
ambulatory care patients under the supervision of family practice
attendings and residents. Students
will have the opportunity to participate in family practice specialty
clinics, including colposcopy, circumcision and minor surgical procedures.
Students will have the opportunity to attend grand rounds, journal
club and senior seminars. In
addition to learning the traditional outpatient management of patients for
common diseases, the students will gain experience in the
multidisciplinary approach to complex disease states like HIV and
Hepatitis C.
Dr. Fabienne Daguilh
(718)
466-3225
fdaguilh@bronxleb.org
All Modules
Interested students should contact the instructor before
registering for this elective.
FM26
Understanding the Spiritual and Religious Dimension of Patients
This four-week elective course explores spirituality and
religion as it impacts patients’ health and care management.
A combination of clinical experiences and classroom seminars are
provided to build knowledge, skills and potential change in attitude
surrounding the importance of this patient dimension.
Opportunities include joining a hospital chaplain on patient
visits; interviewing patients with chronic illness and pain; caring for
patients and their families with terminal illness and attending home
visits to geriatric patients to explore end of life issues.
Complementary and alternative practices within the realm of
spirituality will be included. Students needing to complete their ISP project requirement
relevant to this elective can be mentored.
Bi-weekly seminars focus on discussion with core faculty
facilitators and invited guests regarding the intersections of patients’
spirituality with clinical issues, assigned readings and research studies.
In addition, students are encouraged to reflect on their own
religious and spiritual selves as it impact the doctor-patient
relationship and sustains the practice of humanistic medicine.
Mimi McEvoy, NP, MA
Principal Associate,
Pediatrics
(718) 430-3167
mcevoy@aecom.yu.edu
Dr. Elisabeth Alderman
Clinical Professor,
Pediatrics
(718) 920-6614
ealderma@aecom.yu.edu
Dr. Victoria Gorski, M.D.
Associate Professor,
Family Medicine
(718) 920-5521
medicinevgorski@motefiore.org
Dr. Deborah Widerski, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Family
Medicine
(718) 920-5521
dwiderski@montefiore.org
Module 6B only
Maximum 6 students
Interested students should contact
Mimi McEvoy for permission before
registering for the elective.
FM27
Palliative Medicine Consultation Service
The Department of Family Medicine offers a four-week
elective with the Palliative Consultation Service at Bronx-Lebanon
Hospital Center. Students
will work with an interdisciplinary team comprised of a family practice
attending, a palliative care trained nurse practitioner, a palliative care
trained social worker and a hospice nurse liasion to provide patient and
family centered palliative and hospice care to serious and terminally ill
patients through out Bronx-Lebanon, including MICU, CCU, ventilator unit,
family practice inpatient unit, all medical and surgical floors and a
planned hospice inpatient unit. Students
will interview and examine patients and participate in family counseling
with the guidance and assistance of the Palliative Medicine Consultation
Service team members and will be expected to present and discuss care
options for patients seen in consultation.
Students will read didactic material on palliative care and be
provided with one-on-one teaching from the attending physician, nurse
practitioner and social worker. Emphasis will be placed on the issues unique to end of life
care faced by an inner city, underserved population.
Dr. Joseph Sacco
(718) 960-1261
jsaccor@bronxleb.org
Interested students should contact the instructor before registering
for this elective.
FM28
Palliative Care Elective
The purpose of this elective is to introduce fourth year
medical students to the philosophy, principles and practice of Palliative
Care. Both two week and
four-week blocks are available, with a maximum of one student per block. During the elective, the student will participate in the
multidisciplinary team assessment and management of patients on the
inpatient palliative care suite, on home hospice, and throughout the
hospital, including patients in oncology, MICU, and the SICU.
Formal didactic sessions will include teaching on pain and symptom
management, the palliation of HIV disease, psychiatric issues at the end
of lift, advance directives and bioethical issues related to end of life
care.
Working closely with physicians, nurse practitioners,
social workers, psychiatrists and others, elective students will gain
proficiency in assessing the physiological, psychological and spiritual
responses that occur at the end of life.
They will apply and develop communication and counseling skills for
individuals and their families as they face death, gain the ability to
prioritize pharmacological and non-pharmacological management for patients
with complex symptoms, and learn how to identify and manage common
clinical emergencies in palliative medicine.
Dr. Allen Hutcheson
(718) 920- 7327
ahutches@montefiore.org
Interested students should contact the instructor before
registering for this elective.
FM29
Elective in Global Health
There are a limited number of position available for
medical students in Central and South America.
Research opportunities exist at a large HIV clinic in Guatemala
City. Clinical opportunities
exist in both rural and urban settings throughout the region.
Dr. Matthew Anderson
(718) 933-2400
bronxdoc@gmailcom
Dr. Smith
vze2x6qm@verizon.net
All Modules
Interested students should send their CV’s and a cover
letter to either Dr. Anderson or Dr. Smith before registering.
For any
further questions regarding elective choices at AECOM/DFSM, please
contact Dr. Victoria Gorski, 718-920-6324 or
vgorski@montefiore.org
FM30 Medical Spanish Immersion in the Bronx
This four-week elective will provide a Medical Spanish
Immersion experience in a family medicine practice in the Bronx. Students
will work with an interdisciplinary team at the Mount Hope Family Practice
(130 West Tremont) and will interview and examine mono-lingual patients in
Spanish. Two mornings a week, students will receive Medical Spanish
instruction at the medical school. Materials and on-line tutorials will also
be provided. Students will participate in group counseling sessions of
Spanish speaking patients regarding Diabetes and other health related issues
with the health educator. Materials on specific health education issues
will be provided. Emphasis will be placed on the improvement of language
skills, such as comprehension and the ability to interview, conduct physical
exams, and present the case in Spanish. In addition, students will be
expected to provide health education relevant to the patients in this clinic
and/or community in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner.
Preceptor: Maria Marzan, EdD, MPH
Intermediate Spanish is required (assessed by instructor).
Module 6A
Contact information: Dr. Maria Marzan
mamarzan@aecom.yu.edu
(718) 430-3419
For any further questions regarding
elective choices at AECOM/DFSM, please contact Dr. Victoria Gorski,
718-920-6324 or
vgorski@montefiore.org