Student Rotations

The anesthesia department of IRMC will provide a unique and well rounded rotation for all medical students. There will be plenty of opportunities for developing procedural skills including: mask ventilation, intubation, nerve blocks, and intravenous access. In addition to the procedural skills our attending will provide significant didactic teaching, and the opportunity to develop critical thinking and assessment skills. The operating rooms and procedural areas of IRMC will provide a wide variety of case types. The rotation will foster critical thinking and be useful for students interested in all aspects of surgery, medicine, and anesthesia.

Help to directly care for critically ill patients alongside or full-time intensivist attendings. Students will have the opportunity to round one-on-one with an attending Critical Care Medicine physician in the ICU, a 12-bed unit at IRMC. They will follow one to three patients and endeavor to assume primary management of their patient(s) as the patient navigates their critical illness. Students should gain basic competency in recognizing pathologies such as sepsis and shock; acute coronary syndrome; acute respiratory failure (various etiologies); and acute neurologic emergencies among many others that require critical care. At the end of the rotation, they should be able to understand the indications for and launch the initial steps in critical care. They will participate in the ongoing maintenance and management of critical care interventions. The exceptionally motivated student may have the opportunity to observe and participate in interventional procedures related to the practice of critical care.

IRMC gastroenterology rotation includes daily rounds and routine office hours. Students will have opportunity to attend all endoscopies and colonoscopies with direct attending supervision.

Students will participate in rotation activities based on academic year / clinical experience and comfort level.

Like many rotations at IRMC, the IRMC orthopedic rotation offers direct access to attendings. Attendings are engaged educators who love to teach. Students will be permitted to assist with orthopedic surgeries. Our orthopedic physicians are the team physicians for a variety of athletic teams at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) and work closely with the university's training staff. If you want personal attention and opportunity in orthopedics as a student, this is the rotation for you.

IRMC’s Center for Spine and Pain Management is an outpatient hospital department that specializes in the prevention and treatment of chronic pain with the goal of providing patients a new found hope, confidence and quality of life. The department is headed by Jonathan Scholl, MD, and students will be able to join him in the fluoroscopy suite and operating room for interventional procedures during their rotation. Students will learn how providers utilize a patient-centered approach with advanced diagnostic and physical exam techniques to determine the source of pain and then develop a personalized treatment plan for each and every patient.

The pediatric rotation at Indiana Regional Medical Center is an opportunity to interact and care for the youngest members of our community. Responsibilities include both inpatient and outpatient pediatrics. Morning rounds in the newborn nursery and on the pediatrics inpatient floor are followed by outpatient rounds in pediatric offices in Indiana, Blairsville, or Marion Center, PA. Medical students will have direct interaction with a pediatric attendings and will receive ongoing guidance and feedback during the course of the rotation.

The Mental Health Sciences Division in IPG/NPA is dedicated to medical education. The service consists of a 16 bed geriatric psychiatry unit, a busy outpatient office, a robust consultation liaison service and medical education. The provider staff includes 3 board-certified psychiatrists, one of whom is a fellowship trained and board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist. There are two nurse practitioners, two physician assistant, three neurologists two masters level and one supervisory PhD-trained psychologist along with multiple externs. Medical students, nurse practitioner students and PA students rotate on the service. It has a well-established history of medical education. ECT service will be added in the near future. Forensic psychiatric cases are also performed. The students are integrated into the service during the rotation and participate in all aspects. In particular, they are introduced to the nuance of the relationship between physician and patient unique to psychiatry. They are taught the biopsychosocial comprehensive assessment of patients. The primary teaching services are the inpatient unit and the consultation liaison service. They are exposed to and perform admission evaluations, follow-up notes, consults. They are expected to present to a combined treatment team, the patients that they are following or have been involved in the admission process. They are introduced to psychotropic medication management, ECT as well as other non-somatic treatments. This service has received multiple good reviews by students in the past. The inpatient unit consistently scores above the 95 percentile on Press Ganey surveys. Neuropsychiatric Associates is considered to be one of the preeminent outpatient programs in Indiana County. The consultation liaison service is extremely busy exemplified by the confidence and value placed upon it by other providers in the group.

Our family medicine rotation is a rotation with a variety of outpatient, inpatient and a dash of sports med/OMM. Students will care for members of our close-knit community from newborn to geriatric, grandbabies to great grandmas. Our rural patients are our neighbors and are very appreciative of the care that we provide. Our family physicians see patients in the office, at the local school, at nearby nursing homes and personal care homes, and occasionally at the patient's home. This rotation can also be adapted as a family medicine sub-internship.

IRMC Sports Medicine, a primary care medical specialty, provides non-surgical orthopedic care for a spectrum of musculoskeletal injuries and conditions to include sprains and strains, fractures and concussions in both athletes and the general population. Sports Medicine physicians have special training in the musculoskeletal exam and musculoskeletal ultrasound. Treatment techniques range from manual manipulation/OMT to ultrasound-guided injections in order to maximize patient function and facilitate return to sports. IRMC Sports Medicine works closely with the athletic training staff of Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) and the local high schools in order to provide care for their athletes. We provide competition coverage for the fall and winter seasons of IUP athletics.

IRMC staffs five general surgeons as well as a vascular surgeon. Our surgical program is headed by Dr. Dan Clark, a leader and instructor in robotic surgery. Our surgeons are completing national certification as a center for breast cancer care. Twice monthly there is a breast cancer conference in addition to a routine oncology noon conference for interdisciplinary discussion of cases of patients with oncologic diagnoses. Our surgeons rotate coverage at the IRMC Wound Clinic. As with other rotations at IRMC, students have direct, and usually individual access to attendings. Additionally, you won't find a more personable group of surgeons than IRMC's surgical group.