The clinical elective in Infectius Diseases is open to 4th-year medical students and residents at the Washington University School of Medicine/Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Visiting students and residents from other institutions are also welcome and should contact the fellowship director for further information. Depending on the student or resident's interests, clinical rotations can be pursued in any of the following settings:

Ambulatory Infectious Diseases
The purpose of the elective is to teach residents and medical students the fundamentals of evaluating clinical infections in the outpatient setting. Residents and students see patients under the supervision of a faculty member. They will participate in the care of HIV infected or otherwise immunosuppressed patients as well as general infectious disease and travel patients.  The clinic is the primary provider for HIV infected patients, and students will learn the pathogenesis of HIV, become familiar with most antiretroviral medications, and have the opportunity to learn about opportunistic infections and their prophylaxis.  They will also have the opportunity to see patients with bone and joint infections, endovascular infections, endemic and opportunistic mycoses, sexually transmitted diseases and travel plans.  Patients seen will have a wide range of acute and chronic infections with a heavy emphasis on HIV/AIDS, including indigent and insured patients, of both sexes and a wide range of ages.  The residents and medical students will play an important role in the management of these patients. They are expected to read the literature about their patients and participate in clinical conferences. The schedule and readings for this rotation can be found here.

General Infectious Diseases Consultation Service
The purpose of the inpatient rotation is to study patients with infectious diseases, including inpatient care of HIV infected patients and general infectious disease consults.  The elective is designed to teach residents and medical students the fundamentals of evaluating clinical problems in infection and formulating plans for workups and therapy. Residents and medical students see consultations in infectious diseases in every part of Barnes-Jewish Hospital under the supervision of a faculty member who rounds with them every day. They work closely with infectious disease fellows, follow their own patients and play an important role in their management. They are expected to read the literature about their patients and participate in clinical conferences. They attend teaching rounds and conferences and lectures in infectious diseases. They also learn appropriate use of antibiotics, antifungal and antiviral agents.  A wide distribution of infectious diseases is covered including community acquired acute and chronic infections, opportunistic infections in HIV infected patients, hospital acquired infections, and basic infection control practices. This is a 4week rotation. Two week rotations are allowed, but must be done in conjunction with 2 weeks of Transplant Infectious Disease or Bone and Joint Infectious Disease. The schedule and readings for the inpatient rotation can be found here.

Transplant Infectious Diseases Consultation Service
The purpose of the transplant rotation is to study infectious diseases in patients who have had bone marrow or solid organ transplant patients, or who have a hematologic malignancy.  The elective is designed to teach residents and medical students the fundamentals of evaluating clinical infections in these complex and interesting patients and formulating plans for workups and therapy. Residents and students see consultations in every part of Barnes-Jewish Hospital under the supervision of a faculty member who rounds with them every day. They work closely with infectious disease fellows, follow their own patients and play an important role in their management. They are expected to read the literature about their patients and participate in clinical conferences. They attend teaching rounds and conferences and lectures in infectious diseases. They also learn appropriate use of antibiotics, antifungal and antiviral agents in this highly immune suppressed population.  A wide distribution of infectious diseases is covered including management of neutropenic fever, invasive fungal infections in the transplant population, acute and chronic infections, infection prophylaxis and monitoring and interactions between immunosuppressive agents and antibiotics. The General Infectious Disease rotation is a prerequisite for this rotation. The readings for the transplant rotation can be found here.

Bone and Joint Infections Consultation Service
The purpose of the Bone Joint rotation is to study infectious diseases of the bones and joints, including infections in both native and prosthetic joints.  The elective is designed to teach residents and medical students the fundamentals of evaluating clinical orthopedic infections and formulating plans for workups and therapy. Residents and medical students see consultations in infectious diseases in every part of Barnes-Jewish Hospital under the supervision of a faculty member who rounds with them every day. They work closely with the infectious diseases attending and nurse practitioner, follow their own patients and play an important role in their management. They are expected to read the literature about their patients and participate in clinical conferences. They attend teaching rounds and conferences and lectures in infectious diseases. They also learn appropriate use of antibiotics and antifungal agents.  The role of surgical and medical management is discussed, and the students will interact with surgical staff in understanding the risks and outcomes of these common infections.  The General Infectious Disease rotation is a prerequisite for this rotation. The readings for the bone and joint rotation can be found here.

All residents and medical students on clinical elective should plan to attend conference throughout the week with their supervising infectious disease fellows(link to the schedules at http://id.wustl.edu/fellowship_readings.htm and then click on the schedule for the desired rotation, and http://id.wustl.edu/fellowship_core_curriculum.htm). These conferences, which include ID grand rounds, core curriculum, journal club, and clinical microbiology rounds provide invaluable learning opportunities on a wide range of infectious disease topics.