Unique Opportunities

The Complex Primary Care Clinic (CPCC) clinic serves as a primary medical home for children with complex medical conditions that require multi-specialty care. Navigating so many different specialties/appointments can be very challenging for caregivers, so the CPCC clinic helps to coordinate their patients' care, streamline follow-up, and provide social and financial support/resources to the families. Because the CPCC clinic only sees children who are followed by 3+ major specialties, all the cases that COMET Fellows see are unique. It is a great opportunity to learn about a variety of different specialties and rare childhood conditions.

In the Dental Plastics clinic Fellows will be working with hospital dentists. Fellows primary responsibilities will include pre-charting notes by utilizing your provider’s preferred note template and, as you get more comfortable, searching through the patient’s record for relevant medical history, imaging, and lab results if applicable. Additional responsibilities may include assisting with finding items for your provider and/or residents in the clinic during patient appointments, and helping with overall clinic workflow as needed. The patient population consists of patients with HEENT-related cancer, sleep apnea, jaw/TMJ-related pain, special needs, and other conditions that make utilizing community dental care difficult, although the conditions you see will depend on your placed provider as each provider specializes in caring for different patient populations. Fellows will have the chance to see multiple different in-clinic procedures, including oral biopsies, teeth extractions, Botox injections, and dental impressions for oral appliances, depending on the provider(s) you are placed with. On average, there are about 8-10 patients for any given 4-hr shift for the majority of providers in clinic, but this will also depend on the provider you’re placed with.   

The Fine Need Aspiration Clinic (FNA) clinic is a unique opportunity for a limited number of COMET fellows, where the role entails more hands-on assistance in a medical procedure setting obtaining biopsies rather than medical documentation. A fellow’s role will be to provide periprocedural assistance and support, assist patients and family members to and from the waiting room, and provide technical assistance during the procedure as well. Fellows will be in charge of cleaning up the procedure room and delivering specimens to the specimen lab. In addition, opportunities for looking into the microscope either during or after the procedure to learn how pathologists make diagnoses are abundant. An additional medical documentation responsibility is helping the pathologist write I/O reports. The fellow’s job will be to template out the report for them and document clinical history. Furthermore, there are ample research and QA/QI projects available for inquisitive minds. Lastly, we as a department look forward to the opportunity to offer one-on-one mentoring and professional guidance to our COMET fellows. We are an extremely diverse department with backgrounds spanning many different fields of medicine and interests ranging from global health initiatives to innovative biotech and molecular/genetic research to rural and underserved community practices.

Working as a Fellow in the Infectious Disease (ID) clinic offers a unique and dynamic experience, where a diverse range of complex cases are managed, from myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and long COVID to orthopedic infections and diabetic foot ulcers. The clinic's interdisciplinary approach fosters collaboration with specialists from orthopedics, radiology, and other fields, providing valuable exposure to a wide range of medical disciplines. Fellows document detailed history and physical exams, gaining deeper insights into the complexities of chronic diseases. With opportunities to shadow physicians and engage in research, particularly in areas related to health equity and chronic disease management, the role provides a comprehensive learning environment.

The Pharmacy clinic is a moderate paced environment. Shifts usually include seeing 3-5 patients, in a virtual setting. During the visit, patients reported vitals, such as weight and blood pressure, along with CGM values are jotted down, along with the patient’s diet and exercise regimen, any new updates in the patient’s life, any upcoming labs, and any changes to medication dosages. You will have the chance to see patients with diabetes, hyperlipidemia, as well as other conditions. Fellows will also have the chance to delve into more of the pharmacology and background of various different medications with your provider.

The Stanford Immune Behavioral Health (IBH) Clinic is a pediatric multidisciplinary clinic established in 2012 to care for kids with infection-associated neuropsychiatric deteriorations and co-morbid inflammatory conditions (i.e. arthritis, vascular inflammation, etc).  Patients in our clinic receive care from Rheumatologists, Immunologists, Pediatricians, Psychiatrists, and Psychologists to address infections, inflammatory conditions, and psychiatric symptoms.  In addition to caring for patients, we also conduct clinical research.

COMET Scribes in our clinic assist with comprehensive chart reviews, summarizing patient/parent questionnaires, documenting physical exams, and inputting data from the clinic visit (summary data from the clinic visit about the state of the patient’s condition) into REDCap database. New to our next cohort of COMET Scribes, we plan to have them meet with families to understand current medications and “flare” dates which is critical to the clinicians for conducting the clinic visit.  Our past COMET fellows have participated in case presentations at conferences and case summaries for publication. While our clinic has a lower number of patients per day (1-2 hour long visits) compared to other clinics available to scribes, it is a unique clinic that presents the opportunity to 1. learn about rheumatologic, psychiatric, and infectious diseases 2. observe a multidisciplinary approach to care 3. understand the integration and important of clinical research 4. be a part of a team studying and caring for an underserved patient population.

As a medical scribe in the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Clinic, COMET Fellows will collaborate closely with attending surgeons, residents, and clinical staff to ensure accurate documentation of patient care. The primary responsibilities will include recording patient histories, physical exams, assessments, and surgical treatment plans. COMET Fellows will gain exposure to a diverse range of cases including breast cancer patients undergoing reconstruction after mastectomy or lumpectomy, trauma patients requiring advanced wound care, and individuals seeking elective aesthetic procedures such as brachioplasties, liposuction, and abdominoplasties. Furthermore, you will develop a clear understanding of how complex medical conditions are managed over time by documenting new patient consultations, pre-operative evaluations, and post-operative follow-ups, all while observing the teamwork involved in plastic and reconstructive surgery.

In the Lung Transplant Clinic Fellows will round with several different doctors on a varying number of patients in an in-patient setting. Fellows duties include updating an ongoing note documenting the patient’s overnight events and the changes that are being made to the patient's care. There is no pre-charting required for this clinic, but the hours of the clinic can be variable due to constantly changing volumes of admitted patients.

This position is primarily responsible for maintaining and updating patient care notes for lung transplant patients in the inpatient setting, including tracking day-to-day changes in care, medications, and ventilator settings. The role involves rounding and working closely with a multidisciplinary team of providers and APPs. Additionally, it offers the unique opportunity to observe heart and lung transplant procedures.

The responsibilities at Roots Clinics as a Fellow align closely with traditional scribing duties, but the unique learning opportunities at the clinic set it apart. On a daily basis, the role involves typical scribing tasks. However, Roots emphasizes teaching in a way that makes the role more engaging, inviting, and meaningful. The clinic functions not only as a healthcare center but also as a learning environment for training medical, PA, and NP students, commonly referred to as learners, who are preparing to begin their practice. This educational focus, combined with the teacherly nature of the attending physicians, provides scribes with an opportunity to learn far more than expected. During visits, Fellows observe 1-2 different learners daily as they interact with patients, gaining insights into effective communication and the creation of safe spaces for patients. After visits, scribes have the chance to sit in on discussions between learners and attending physicians, further enhancing the educational experience. Additionally, attending physicians at Roots often extend invitations to on-campus events, gatherings, and meetings, offering scribes the chance to network with medical professionals, researchers, and program coordinators who may present new opportunities.