Medical Student & Resident Education
Educational opportunities for medical students and pediatric residents continue to expand through this Division’s Pediatric Infectious Diseases consultative service. Medical students interact with all divisions in the department and assist in the management of children with a wide range of underlying medical problems.
Most consultations involve hospitalized patients, but you may also work in general infectious disease and HIV/AIDS clinics to manage patient care. Many elect to work in these clinics under supervision of the fellows and faculty. The elective rotation is open to third- and fourth-year medical students and pediatric residents may opt for elective rotation, with the latter given more autonomy because of their greater clinical experience. We welcome visitors from other medical schools and residency training programs.
The goals for the elective rotation include:
- Develop differential diagnoses for common pediatric infectious disease problems and learn appropriate management strategies.
- Become familiar with appropriate laboratory tests for bacterial, viral, and fungal infections, and understand the basis for interpretation of results.
- Learn appropriate antibiotic management for common community-acquired infections in infants and children.
- Develop an understanding of antibiotic usage and resistance to understand resistance patterns of clinical relevance.
- Develop an appreciation of hospital epidemiology and public health preventive measures in pediatric infectious diseases:
- Principles of routes of transmission and preventive precautions
- Understanding which diseases must be reported to the County health department
- Familiarity with websites that may be consulted for the most up-to-date information
- Scientific basis for currently recommended vaccination issues, VAERS, etc.
- Blood/body fluid exposure prevention
- Case management/discharge planning for patients with infections requiring prolonged courses of antimicrobial therapy.
Evaluating Student Performance
Faculty judge student performance by case presentations, interpretation of clinical and laboratory information, and comprehension of the appropriate management and the daily follow-up of cases. Other factors include interest in acquiring information by reading and discussion, plus your ability to interact with patients, their families, faculty, and fellows. The attending faculty member discusses performance with each student. Rotators assess the division’s teaching and patient care activities by completing an evaluation form at the end of the four-week rotation.