Welcome to the third year medical student rotation in Pediatric Cardiology.  At your earliest convenience at the beginning of the rotation, please stop by the Cardiology office in CDRC 3226 to pick up your rotation materials.  There are mailboxes against the far wall – the one on the bottom right hand side is labeled “Student/Resident”.  There should be a packet with your name on it.  You should then introduce yourself to Jodi Leonard in the back corner cubicle.  She is your administrative contact for the rotation (ext. 4-2194) and is a great resource when you have questions or concerns.  You should also plan to contact Dr. Shaughnessy at the beginning of the rotation to discuss scheduling during your time with us (her contact info is found at the end of this overview).

The rotation consists of 10-15 days of combined inpatient and outpatient experience in Pediatric Cardiology.  As this is a new rotation, your input and critique of the experience will be valuable.  Please note areas in which the rotation can improve.

The objectives of this rotation are the following:

1.  Improve oral and written presentations of pediatric patients.  Remember that effective presentations communicate the essential components of a patient's medical condition and offer a reasoned assessment and, when possible, a plan.

2.  Improve your medical knowledge base in topics relevant to Pediatric Cardiology.  Areas of special focus include congenital and acquired heart disease, evaluation of murmurs, basic interpretation of EKGs, and the use of diagnostic echocardiography.

The clinical settings for this rotation are varied and include:

• Inpatient pediatric ward (PACC - 9N and 9S)
• PICU
• DNCC
• Echo Lab
• Doernbecher Operating Room
• Outpatient Clinics
• • OHSU (7^th floor, DCH)
  • Outreach Clinics (Eugene, Salem, Albany, etc.)

The schedule for your rotation depends on the current census and the schedule of the pediatric resident on cardiology but, in general, you will spend one week on the inpatient service and the remainder of your time in the outpatient setting.  During this rotation, you may work with an attending, a cardiology fellow, a pediatric resident, and/or MS4 sub-intern.  Patient assignment will be at the discretion of the attending or fellow supervising you.  Assignment of patients should be based on the perceived educational opportunity a patient provides the student.  The student will also work with the attending, fellow, and pediatric resident to complete Consults in a timely manner.

Lectures:  You are expected to attend all of your required Core Lectures for the clerkship, and you should inform your attending or fellow when it is time for you to go to these.  If you are participating in an outreach clinic for the day, you are excused from any scheduled lectures.  There are also five didactic lectures (core competencies) given by various pediatric cardiologists during each month, as outlined in your packet.  It is not expected that you will be able to attend all five in your limited time with us, once per week is a reasonable goal.  It is a good idea to “partner up” with the resident on-service to get these lectures scheduled.  You may also have opportunities to attend other lectures during the rotation, primarily aimed at the Pediatric Cardiology fellows, on an “as appropriate” basis, depending on the topic.

Competencies for this rotation consist of a series of assignments that help round out the experience.

1.  Complete two comprehensive written work-ups of cardiology patients.  At least one must be an inpatient. The write-ups should be no more than four pages and include a reasoned assessment and plan.  They should be turned in to Dr. Shaughnessy by the end of the two or three week session.

2.  Complete the set of multiple choice questions provided to you, and review the answers with Dr. Shaughnessy or the attending of your choice before the end of the pediatric clerkship. 

3.  Prepare a 10 minute oral presentation on an in-depth topic of your choice, preferably based on an experience you had during your rotation.  Feel free to discuss the topic with the fellow or the attending with whom you are working.  Ideally, the presentation should be given to the team before the end of the clerkship. 

There are numerous references that you can use for Pediatric Cardiology.  These are listed in the packet you will obtain at the beginning of the rotation.

The faculty contact for the rotation is:

Robin Shaughnessy, MD

shaughne@ohsu.edu

Ext. 4-2192

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