ICU elective coming up in 1 week.... suggestions on how to prep?

[snarkie]

Title says it all! I'm a third year and just finished my IM rotation. I've been reading Marino's ICU book, which is amazing but lengthy (if anyone thinks there is a particularly good section, please let me know. I've just been reading in order of the chapters). Any other resources you'd recommend?

This is also my first away rotation at an institution I'd be super excited to apply to, so really hoping to do well 🙂

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[byaaaaaaah23]

Go through ACLS protocols a few times so you can try to follow along during a code, read about sepsis management, pressor selection, and just make sure you are solid on basic cardiac/vascular physiology. Your team will be impressed if you are familiar with the Rivers trial from early 2000s and how that isn't really used anymore: https://www.wikijournalclub.org/wiki/Rivers_Trial

 

[Noisewater-TDX]

Find the nice nurses, stay away from the grumpy ones. If that's possible in the ICU.

 

[NontradICUdoc]

Marylandccproject.com

 

[The Anhedonia]

The is a "little" version of Marino that's incredibly useful as a quick clinical reference (fits in back scrub pocket)

 

[FlameBroiledDoc]

Invest in comfortable shoes, and top up your coffee shop card.

 

[Tots]

Learn how to present ICU style. This may be very institution dependent so maybe ask around to find out how they expect you to present(generally systems based) and what information they generally want in each system. At my institution the way they expected me to present in the ICU was very different than anything I had done before but some residents had given me the heads up and showing up on day 1 able to convey exactly the information they wanted in each section was key. Also helps you, at least initially, figure out what you should be paying attention to.

Nurses run the show way more than the floor. So general advice about being nice, etc...

I felt a big advantage I had as a medical student was the time to just sit and listen to a patient's family (who were often overwhelmed and struggling to cope with the situation) when my resident and/or attending were busy off dealing with other work.

I loved my ICU rotation. Have fun, learn a lot.

 

[GlowInTheDark]

The Ventilator Book. You can get the Ebook off amazon for $10 and it's a great crash-course

 

[Alby]

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[HooliganSnail]

ICU is a great rotation. The patients are very sick, there is always a lot of cool pathology, and despite what others have been saying, I find the RNs in the ICU to be some of the best I've every worked with

ICU is just like floor medicine, except that every patient there have many more problems going on, where often a floor patient will just have a single main issue (CHF exacerbation, COPD flare, etc...) In the ICU, patients often have competing problems, so treating one thing can make another worse, that kinda thing.

In short, any subject you read about will be good to know in the ICU, but certain ones are bread and butter

1. Types of Shock
2. ABG's
3. Sepsis
4. ARDS
5. Ventilators (basic stuff like FiO2/PEEP for oxygenation, Vt/RR for ventilation)

The key is that you are going to get the opportunity to learn about cool stuff everyday. If you go home and read about the things you see daily, you will grow more on this rotation that in any you have done previously.