Cardiology Intensive Care Unit

Duration: 4 weeks

Period offered: All

Distribution of student's time:
70% inpatient care
20% clinical rounds
10% conferences/lectures

Enrollment/Period: 2 maximum, upon availability, July - May

Average number of patients seen each week: 3

On-call responsibility: Every 4th night

Prerequisites: Completion of core clerkships; Must be 4th year medical student

Clerkship Objectives:

• Increase student involvement in conferences, journal clubs; Iincrease student use/review of the medical literature.
• Approach an understanding of the pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, management of acute ischemic syndromes, congestive heart failure and arrhythmias.

Evaluation:

• Quality of care given
• Participation and performance in conferences
• Level of knowledge

Methods to be used in student evaluation:

• Observation of performance by faculty
• Observation of performance by house officers
• Assessment of write-ups/reports

Description:
This is an inpatient critical and intensive care subinternship in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU). The focus is on clinical cardiology, stressing the clinical examination, evaluation and management of critically ill patients with heart disease. A team approach is stressed where the student sees patients at the bedside with an attending cardiologist and cardiology fellow every day. Teaching rounds and conferences emphasize core curriculum and didactic instruction is placed in clinical context. The student has exposure to thrombolytic administration, right and left heart catheterization, heart failure and pulmonary edema, complex arrhythmias, management of shock and ventilated patients. Each student prepares a 15-minute presentation for daily teaching conference on a subject of his or her choice.