Some medical schools have a dedicated ambulatory internal medicine rotation, others combine this experience with the inpatient rotation, and some hybridize it with other primary care fields. Often thought of as a less essential and less exciting rotation, let it be said that the outpatient encounter is where a lot of action happens. Keeping people well, establishing long-term relationships, and having the privilege of bearing witness to improving health or even declining health are, at least to me, the essence of what it means to not just be a doctor but someone’s doctor. Further, the acquisition and practice of clinical skills in the outpatient setting will very likely.
