Transitions in Care Curriculum for Medical Students
University of Colorado School of Medicine
This curriculum was developed to educate medical students about how to improve hospital discharges. The curriculum is focused on peri-discharge communication with the patient and follow-up provider. Additionally, the student is expected to make a post discharge visit to the patient's home or care center to do medication reconciliation. The standardized Medication Discrepancy Tool by Eric Coleman is used as a tracking mechanism. A pre and post curriculum confidence survey helps the students and educators see what the student has learned. The students are tested on their ability to develop a discharge plan on their final exam.
Objectives:
- Students will identify the critical components of care transitions and the common obstacles to quality of care in transitions from the inpatient setting.
- Students will identify and describe the important role of healthcare providers in assuring quality of care during transitions of care from the inpatient setting.
- Students will perform thorough medication reconciliation between hospital discharge and home/assisted living/skilled nursing facility.
- Students will gain confidence and skills in inter-provider communication necessary for quality care in transitions from the inpatient setting.
The curriculum has been implemented within the Hospitalized Adult Care clerkship to give students the experience of discharging the patient and discovering how the patient functions at home.