University of Pittsburgh logo

Longitudinal Alliance Program 1, 2, 3 & 4

Course spans all four MS years

Director
Lisa Podgurski, MD, MS, FAAHPM
Assistant Professor of Medicine
podgurskil@upmc.edu

Content Lead
Beth Oczypok, MD, PhD
Department of Medicine
eoczypok@pitt.edu

Course Description

The Longitudinal Alliance Program (LAP) involves students building individual relationships with patients living with chronic illnesses over a period of years. Students get to know their LAP patients in clinical and non-clinical settings to hear about patient perspectives on health and health care and see how health conditions evolve over time. Students debrief their LAP interactions during small group meetings with a Faculty Facilitator. The program also involves hearing from non-physician health care professionals to deepen our knowledge of interprofessional roles in patient care.

Course Objectives

  1. Build a longterm relationship with a patient over several years.
  2. Better understand the patient experience of chronic illness, including:
    1. How patients view/understand their medical issues
    2. Social factors that influence the health status of a patient
    3. How patients navigate the healthcare system
  3. Integrate knowledge of a patient’s personal experience with illness into their preclinical coursework.
  4. Reflect on the rewards and challenges of building long-term relationships with patients and debrief with classmates about what they learn from their patients along the way.

Educational Methods​

  • Small group workshops
  • Listening and providing feedback to peers

Evaluation

Evaluation for this course is based on patient encounters, fulfilment of patient logs, completion of assignments, participation, and a reflection paper, as specified in the syllabus for each semester individually.