Sub-internship (medicine)

A "sub"-internship (abbreviated sub-I) is a clinical rotation of a fourth-year medical student in the United States medical education system. A student will generally select an elective "sub"-internship, where the student will perform the role of an intern or first year medical graduate. The rotation is generally pursued in the field appropriate to career interest. For example, a sub-I can be taken in Internal Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, or Obstetrics and Gynecology. In this way, the student can experience a glimpse of their future career with out the burden of full responsibility. The term sub-internship has its roots in the Latin term for "under," which describes the elective well.

Internal medicine sub-I
At the turn of the 21st century ninety-eight percent of US medical schools offered an internal medicine sub-I to their medical students. In general the following responsibilities are given to a sub-I student: accept and give sign-out of all patients on the team, assess assigned patients before morning rounds, write problem oriented notes daily on all patients, admit patients on call days, act as information liaison between the medical team and hospital staff, communicating plan of care to patient. Responsibilities that are generally limited or withheld include: writing orders or prescriptions, performing major procedures, obtaining consent from patients for procedures or surgeries.