Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Rotation/Elective
Introduction
Rotation Director: Dr. Elizabeth Meinert (emeinert@bsd.uchicago.edu)
Welcome to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit! Learning in critical
care medicine is optimized when residents are intimately exposed to and
participate in the cognitive and technical aspects of care1. Resident training in our PICU
encompasses an intensivist-directed, collaborative team model of
patient-centered care that encourages increasing levels of responsibility for
decision-making by the resident by providing the framework for understanding
pathophysiology through the Pediatric Critical Care Core Curriculum.
Comer PICU
The PICU at Comer Children’s Hospital is a 30-bed ICU that ensures cares for critically ill pediatric patients with medical and/or surgical issues. Residents will be exposed to a vast range of diagnoses in the PICU and will learn the fundamentals of critical care in managing patients in this setting, from understanding pathophysiology of certain diseases to assessing unstable patients to developing skills for clinical decision-making and managing complex progressive disease processes.
The PICU at Comer Children’s Hospital is a 30-bed ICU that ensures cares for critically ill pediatric patients with medical and/or surgical issues. Residents will be exposed to a vast range of diagnoses in the PICU and will learn the fundamentals of critical care in managing patients in this setting, from understanding pathophysiology of certain diseases to assessing unstable patients to developing skills for clinical decision-making and managing complex progressive disease processes.
The PICU team provides multidisciplinary, patient-centered care
for children with complex conditions such as but not limited to:
- Life-threatening infection and
sepsis
- Multi-organ failure
- Trauma
- Post-surgical management
- Cancer and blood disease
- Solid organ/bone marrow/stem cell
transplantation
- Neurologic deterioration
- Complex congenital heart disease
PICU Teams
Pediatric residents and Internal Medicine-Pediatric residents will spend 1 to 3 months in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit during their residency. Other trainees include Pediatric Critical Care fellows, Pediatric Surgery fellows, Pediatric Anesthesiology fellows, Pediatric Pulmonary fellows, Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellows, Emergency Medicine interns, and medical students. Furthermore, we offer a 2- or 4-week elective for medical students, interns, or residents interested in a comprehensive multifaceted experience in the PICU. See below for more information.
There are two independent teams in the PICU. Each team consists of
one Pediatric Critical Care attending, one Pediatric Critical Care fellow, and
two residents (Categorical Pediatric and/or Internal Medicine-Pediatric).
Additionally, one team will have an Emergency Medicine resident. Teams may
include other subspecialty fellows and/or medical students. Each team
rounds separately to allow adequate time for comprehensive patient care and
interactive bedside teaching. Please refer to this Two-Team Rounding link for more information.
Pediatric Critical Care Core Curriculum
The Pediatric Critical Care Core Curriculum stresses a multimodal, tiered approach to resident learning and includes:
The Pediatric Critical Care Core Curriculum stresses a multimodal, tiered approach to resident learning and includes:
- Lecture Series
- Afternoon Didactic Sessions
- Case-Based Learning (CBL) Curriculum
- Radiology Rounds
- Clinically Applied
Pathophysiology Series (CAPS)
- Grand Rounds
- Noon Conference Lecture Series
- Interactive Bedside Teaching
- Simulation/Mock Code Cases
Lecture Series
- Essential ICU topics are provided every weekday by a Pediatric Critical Care attending or fellow in the PICU in the Didactic Sessions. See useful links below for more information.
- Further resources (handbooks, guidelines, articles) are below.
- Each Wednesday from 8 to 8:30 am (with the exception of the first Wednesday of the rotation/switch day), trainees will review radiological findings with an attending.
Other Educational Opportunities
The PICU is committed to a multidisciplinary approach to patient care and relies on the expertise of a dedicated social worker, case manager, pharmacist, nutritionist, and respiratory therapists. During the PICU rotation, other learning opportunities are
available upon request to work with specialized care providers in topics such
as: fundamentals of bedside nursing, introduction to ventilators with
respiratory therapists, pharmacy considerations in complex multi-organ disease,
and setting nutritional goals in critical illness.
Evaluations
Residents will be evaluated via MedHub by attending physicians, fellows, ancillary staff and/or patients/families. Attending and fellow physicians will give feedback during the rotation. A post-rotation survey will be sent to all residents to elicit feedback about the PICU rotation – areas of achievement and areas for improvement.
Residents will be evaluated via MedHub by attending physicians, fellows, ancillary staff and/or patients/families. Attending and fellow physicians will give feedback during the rotation. A post-rotation survey will be sent to all residents to elicit feedback about the PICU rotation – areas of achievement and areas for improvement.
Useful Links
PICU Rotation (PL2/3)
PICU Elective (PL1)
o PICU Elective (PL1) Roles and Responsibilities
o PICU Elective (PL1) Goals and Objectives
PICU Elective (PL3/4)
Pediatric Critical Care Core Curriculum
o Morning Didactic Sessions (Click HERE for lectures)
o Morning Didactic Sessions Sample Calendar
Other Educational Opportunities
o Introduction to Bedside Nursing
o Introduction to Respiratory Therapy Care
o Introduction to Pharmacy
o Introduction to Nutrition Services
o Introduction to Bedside Nursing
o Introduction to Respiratory Therapy Care
o Introduction to Pharmacy
o Introduction to Nutrition Services
1Dorman, T,
Angood, PB, Angus DC, et al. Updated Guidelines for Critical Care Medicine
Training and Continuing Medical Education. CritCare Med 2004; 32(1): 263-265.