The UCLA Internal Medicine Primary Care Track

The inpatient training at UCLA spans multiple training sites and encompasses a diverse patient population. Below are descriptions of the inpatient services with the location in parentheses (RR - Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, SM - UCLA-Santa Monica Medical Center):

Each UCLA ward team consists of an attending, junior or senior resident and two interns. Teams often include third or fourth year medical students. Ward teams provide care for acutely ill medicine patients with diagnoses ranging from common to rare.  Our diverse patient population is reflective of UCLA's unique position as both a hospital located in a large metropolitan area and an international referral center.

• 5 medicine ward teams
• Overnight Call Q5 until 5am (5 new admissions/intern; 10 new admissions/resident)
• Short Call Q5 (3 new admissions/intern, interns alternate admitting such that interns are short call q10 and residents are short call q5; 3 new admissions/resident)
• 4 days off per month
• Weekly continuity clinic

A day float resident is scheduled seven days a week to assist the post-call team to ensure they leave the hospital within 30 consecutive hours. The overnight call team does not cross-cover patients from other teams. Instead, a night float resident covers those patients. Here is a sample schedule:

The MICU rotation provides housestaff exposure to state-of-the-art management of critically ill patients in a 24-bed medical intensive care unit (MICU). The MICU team consists of two attendings, one fellow, four second or third year residents, and four interns. In addition to daily work rounds, the team meets throughout the rotation for a core lecture series taught by the medical intensivists.  In the MICU, the non-admitting resident functions as the Day Float to assist the post-call team to ensure they leave the hospital within 30 consecutive hours.

• Overnight Call Q4 until 6 a.m. for Interns and Residents
• Intern Short Call Q4  (8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Friday only, 2 new admissions/intern)
• 4 days off per month
• No clinic responsibilities

The CCU team focuses on diagnosis and treatment of acute cardiac disease. The team consists of an attending, a cardiology fellow, four second or third year residents, and five interns. Housestaff care for acute cardiac patients in a 12-bed Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) and 13-bed intermediate care Cardiac Observation Unit (COU). UCLA operates a 24 hour direct cardiac catheterization laboratory. A separate cardiac observation team manages low-risk patients admitted for chest pain or syncope. Patients admitted for strictly peri-procedural observation are typically admitted to a non-teaching service and do not require resident input.  As in the MICU, the non-admitting resident functions as the Day Float to assist the post-call team to ensure they leave the hospital within 30 consecutive hours.

• Intern Overnight Call Q5
• Intern Short Call 1 (until 2 p.m., 2 new admissions/intern) and Short Call 2 (until 4 p.m., 2 new admissions/intern)
• Resident Call Q4
• 4 days off per month
• No clinic responsibilities

The view from the CCU call room

The J medicine team cares for patients with hematologic malignancies including leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma, who are admitted for inpatient chemotherapy, autologous or allogeneic stem cell transplants, or complications from their underlying disease.  Patients are housed on a 26-bed Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Unit. The J team consists of an attending, two fellows, two interns, and two nurse practitioners.

• Intern Overnight Call Q7 (no admitting responsibilities after 5 p.m.)
• 4 days off per month
• Weekly continuity clinic

The Ronald Reagan-UCLA Medical Center has a 13-bed dedicated Observation Unit for patients requiring short stays, including those admitted for chest pain, syncope, electrolyte replacement, gastroenteritis, transfusions, cellulitis, and other diagnoses. It is staffed by a dedicated Hospitalist attending who teaches a new curriculum focused on short-stay admissions and procedures.

• 12-hour shifts for residents for 2-4 weeks
• 12-hour day shifts Monday - Friday for interns for 2 weeks
• Weekly continuity clinic

All residents complete a four week nephrology and a two week inpatient infectious disease consultation rotation. These popular rotations expose residents to busy services that provide specialty consultation to medicine and surgery services at RRMC.

The Solid Oncology service cares for patients with solid organ malignancies. The team is comprised of an oncology attending, a hospitalist attending, one oncology fellow, and two second or third year residents.  Housestaff learn the pathophysiology of common malignancies and gain competency in managing complications associated with cancer and its treatment.

• Q4 night home call
• 4 days off per month
• Weekly continuity clinic

The Geriatrics rotation offers exposure to a multidisciplinary geriatrics ward in a community hospital setting. There are two teams, each comprised of a geriatrician and two second or third year residents. A primary objective of the rotation is to offer residents an opportunity to function as junior attendings. Another is to provide evidence-based training in geriatric medicine. Q4 night home call Q4 short call 4 days off per month Weekly continuity clinic

All second and third year residents rotate on the Hospitalist service to experience a community hospitalist practice model. This innovative rotation incorporates residents into a busy hospitalist practice as junior attendings. Residents enjoy a collegial style of supervision. The rotation provides seniors an opportunity to function independently as community physicians while receiving individualized support and supervision from faculty. Q6 Overnight Call Q6 Short Call 4 days off per month Weekly continuity clinic

Does the Hospitalist office have an ocean view? Why yes, yes it does.

In addition to the UCLA-based rotations, all primary care interns complete two inpatient general ward rotations at ValleyCare Olive View Medical Center.

Second year residents complete one inpatient general ward rotation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and third year residents all return to Olive View-UCLA Medical Center for another ward month.