Clinical Rotation
Emergency Medicine, No Location
Description:
This elective is designed to enhance the medical student's ability to diagnose and treat the acutely ill patient. Students are offered the option of rotations at one of a variety of emergency departments, ranging for a moderate to high volume community setting to higher volume inner city trauma centers. Students will be treating common outpatient emergencies as well as acute life-threatening illnesses. It is expected that the student will become comfortable with a variety of emergency procedures such as wound management, suturing, splinting, intravenous access and airway management.
The student also has the option of exploring the field of pre-hospital medicine as well. On one day, the student may spend an four hour shift with a senior emergency medicine resident who is on a pre-hospital care shift. Depending on the time of year and availability, there will also be an opportunity to spend some time with the aeromedical teams on one of the STAT MedEvac helicopters. The student will assess and treat patients as part of the paramedic team. Depending on the time of year and availability, there will also be an opportunity to spend some time with the aeromedical teams on one of the STAT MedEvac helicopters.
Objectives:
To increase the medical student's experience in the initial evaluation and treatment of patients presenting to the emergency department including the rapid assessment and stabilization of the critically ill or injured patient.
To acquire and become proficient at various technical skills necessary to manage the variety of patients seen in the emergency department.
To gain an appreciation of the skills necessary for the management of patients in the pre-hospital setting.
To become proficient at decsion-making and resuscitation of critically ill patients through practice in the simulation center.
To obtain certification in Advanced Cardiac Life Support
Requirements:
Type of Clinical Experience: Non-Clinical
Call Required: N
Student Contact Hours: Per day: Per week:
(actual time student spends with faculty, attending or residents)
Notes:
This is a four-week clinical rotation combining shifts in the Emergency Department with didactic lectures. The goal of this rotation is to provide experience in the initial assessment and stabilization of the wide spectrum of medical and surgical illnesses encountered in the emergency departments. Students will choose to do their clinical shifts at one of five emergency departments: UPMC Presbyterian, UPMC Mercy, UPMC St Margarets, UPMC Shadyside. The student is expected to work at least 32 clinical hours per week. Clinical work will include daylight, evening and overnight shifts. There will also be six hours of didactic lectures per week. All lectures are ehld at the Winter Institute for Simulation Education adn Research (WISER). Students will be participating in the resuscitatin of over sixty scenarios of critical patients. These scenarios include interpretatin of blood work, x-rays and EKG's. Students may take the ACLS certification examination upon completion of this course.
