Pediatric Hospital Medicine Elective

Course Overview

The goals of this elective is to expose phase 3 and 4 medical students considering careers in Pediatrics and/or Hospital Medicine to the breadth and depth of the subspecialty of Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) and provide opportunities to tailor PHM experiences relevant to the student’s career interests.

Learning Objectives

• Gain more familiarity with management of hospitalized children using current evidence and guidelines for common inpatient illnesses
• Understand the role of the pediatric hospitalist in the continuum of care for children with chronic diseases and/or medical complexity
• Explore the various contributions of pediatric hospitalists to patient safety, hospital quality initiatives, and value-based care
• Recognize the additional clinical and non-clinical aspects of pediatric hospital medicine careers, including consultation, education, and administration/leadership

Schedule of Activities

PHM Elective students will have the choice of joining one of the 8th floor teams depending on interest:

• 8 South: Predominantly general pediatrics admissions, often with high turnover
• 8 North: Mix of general pediatrics admissions and children with medical complexity; opportunity to work with advanced practice providers

Example daily schedule:

• 6-6:30 a.m.: Attend morning signout in resident lounge in residency office (1st floor GCH tower), work with PAO and resident team to identify 1-2 patients to follow initially, more depending on comfort level and team census
• 6:30-8:30 a.m.: Review charts, pre-round
• 8:30-11 a.m.: Team rounds
• 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m.: Patient care tasks, notes, didactics/noon conference, other opportunities as per schedule
• 4:30-5 p.m.: Sign out to long intern once patient care tasks complete

Other opportunities:

• Evening shift (4-10 pm, typically on Tuesdays): Admit new patients with assistance from the Pediatric Admitting Officer (PAO), present to the PHM evening attending, and see the patients together for additional learning
• Shadowing opportunities in moderate/deep sedation for imaging and procedures; Vascular Access team

Required Reading

Eyal Cohen, Dennis Z. Kuo, Rishi Agrawal, Jay G. Berry, Santi K. M. Bhagat, Tamara D. Simon, Rajendu Srivastava; Children With Medical Complexity: An Emerging Population for Clinical and Research Initiatives. Pediatrics March 2011; 127 (3): 529–538.

Quinonez, R.A., Garber, M.D., Schroeder, A.R., Alverson, B.K., Nickel, W., Goldstein, J., Bennett, J.S., Fine, B.R., Hartzog, T.H., McLean, H.S., Mittal, V., Pappas, R.M., Percelay, J.M., Phillips, S.C., Shen, M. and Ralston, S.L. (2013), Choosing wisely in pediatric hospital medicine: Five opportunities for improved healthcare value. J. Hosp. Med., 8: 479-485.

Student Evaluations

Grading for this elective will be pass/fail.

Students will be evaluated on the following areas:

• Clinical skills—oral presentation skills, written notes
• Clinical performance—knowledge and clinical reasoning
• Interpersonal skills (motivation, relationship with patients, family, team; professionalism)
• Areas for Improvement