EM rotation

[Cristagali]

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What do the residents and Intern expect from senior med student on elective rotation? Not pursuing EM..as of now. Any suggested sites or links that spell out what my responsibilities will be? Jumping the gun..I know. Thanks 🙂

 

[anonymousEM]

I think there's something on SAEM.org in the student section about getting the most out of your rotation. But if you're just looking for general advice, show initiative, take interest in procedures and have a general idea of how to do the common ones, but for goodness sake ONLY PICK UP WHAT YOU CAN HANDLE. It is far more important to see one or two pts at a time and see them through to completion than to have many that you're not following up their response to your treatment or their labs. And, your presentations should be complete but succinct...not an internal medicine rounds type presentation. The students, i think, who do the best are the ones that pay attention to vital signs and don't just stop at the end of the H&P but also tell me what things are in their differential (in a general order of likelihood) and what tests they want to order...

 

[Cristagali]

I'll check it out. 😎

 

[bartleby]

I'll summarize my thoughts in four words: cut to the chase. Brief HPI covering the high points, pertinent pos/neg in ROS and PE. And most importantly, if you go in and see a patient who has unstable vital signs or cannot wait to be seen by a doc, go find your supervising resident or attending and get them to see the patient. Nobody likes to find out that a student has been sitting on a sick or hypotensive patient until they have a chance to do a full presentation.

 

[dlung]

The above post is a great summary of how you should approach patients in the ED.

I'll add that expectations will vary significantly between EM rotations. At one county hospital, I carried as many as 4 patients at a time, I often did my own lab draws/peripheral IVs, was able to order initial labs/tests, and presented directly to attendings. In a subsequent community hospital, when I tried to pick up a 3rd patient, my resident got upset--students were only allowed 2 max, was not expected to do any blood draws/IVs, I had to present to my resident before presenting to an attending, and couldn't order anything until cleared with the attending.

So just ask... 😀