Contact information

Lia Desposito, DO
Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency and 3rd year Clerkship Director
Email: DespositoL@mlhs.org
Office: Annenberg G-10

Expectations

Welcome to your third year medicine rotation at Lankenau Medical Center. Our goal is to provide you with a true general medicine experience and help you develop the clinical skills and confidence to become an outstanding house officer. Your duties will include but are not limited to:

  • Performing full detailed histories and physical exams
  • Developing assessments, differential diagnoses and treatment plans
  • Daily detailed progress notes
  • Attending various medical lectures and conferences
  • Presenting on daily rounds to your attending and residents
  • Carry two to three patients at one time
  • Discuss and present your patient to consultants

The most important thing is that you know your patients extremely well (better than anyone on the team) and provide excellent patient care. You will also learn the organizational skills that it takes to manage multiple patients at one time. You should actively read about your patients’ disease processes and always ask questions when you are not sure of something.

Team set-up

Our system here at Lankenau Medical Center consists of eight general medicine services. You will each be assigned to a team consisting of one resident, one intern, and possibly one fourth-year medical student or another third-year student. You will have one attending on your service that is responsible for your teaching and evaluations; they are the “team leaders”. While it is important to recognize you are part of a team you will be working mostly with your residents.

Daily schedule and call

You will be expected to arrive to Lankenau at 6:30 am to start your day. Upon arrival you will meet with your team for sign out from the night float intern of overnight events or new patients.

You should round on your patients and write progress notes in EPIC between 7:00–9:00 am. Bedside teaching rounds will take place between 9:00 am – 11:00 am. Each team will have case management rounds between 11am and 11:30 am There will be daily Noon conference taking place between 12:00–1:00 pm. You should be excused from rounds to attend these as well as all other teaching conferences on your calendar.

During the afternoon you will be responsible for following up on studies and consults your patient may have had, as well as new admissions which may come in after noon. Your team will be available to take admission to the team in the afternoon. You will pair with your resident on “long day” every fourth day to admit new patients until 7pm. You are expected to work one Saturday and one Sunday during your rotation, again following the call schedule of your resident. You must sign out your patients every day to either the on-call intern (during regular days) or the night float intern (during long days).

Conferences and rounds

Grand rounds
Grand rounds are held via Zoom at 8:00 am every Friday morning.

Case Presentation & SIM Labs
Each student will be assigned a day to bring a case they have been following on the floors for a group discussion. A senior resident on a teaching elective plus one member of the faculty will guide you through the case including differential diagnoses, diagnostic evaluations, and recommended treatments. These conferences take place every Tuesday and Thursday from 2-3:00 pm in the McLean conference room. You may also have SIM sessions scheduled – for one session a month. SIM lab is located on the top floor of Annenberg.

Core lecture series
You also have a series of core lectures that you are required to attend as part of your curriculum through your medical school. These may be held at 12:00 pm in lieu of your attendance at noon conference. You are excused from your floor duties for all lectures.

Evaluations

You will be evaluated during this rotation by your attendings and residents. You should be receiving feedback throughout your rotation at the end of each week from the attending. You should also seek mid-rotation feedback.