Third year medical student on NICU

[FCMike11]

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Hello, I know there is a neonatology board, I can read there but not post.

At my school our pediatrics rotation is two weeks inpatient, two weeks nicu, two weeks outpatient.

Could anyone shed some light on maybe what to expect for a third year medical student on NICU?

I cant tell how unusual this is. My impression from speaking to attendings/nurses that the staff/attending are protective. I'm guessing from that perspective a third year wont be able to do much, except observe and learn.

Thank you for reading and anything to share.

 

[oldbearprofessor]

It's not that uncommon to have a rotation in the NICU for MS-3s. Sometimes these are in Level 2 NICUs, where you may get to do a bit more, other times in Level 3 with less they will let you do. It's certainly the case that you won't be doing procedures or the like, but depending on the arrangement, you should get to present some patients (esp feeders/growers) and thus learn how to calculate nutrition information, record apneas and the like and present these to the team. Mostly it's not too intense as core rotation students, unlike sub-Is may not have a lot of interest in the field, but if you show interest and ask about calculations of TPN, etc, you can learn a good bit, especially if you have some interest in pedi/neo. As an aside, the neo board is closed for a few years now.

 

[FCMike11]

Hey OBP, thanks so much for the incredibly informative post!

Do you have any recommendations for literature to learn such calculations or other resources to help be prepared as possible for day one?

Thank you!!

 

[oldbearprofessor]

Best thing to do is not stress about it beforehand but find the nearest neonatal dietitian and nicely ask them on Day 1 to explain stuff. Sources like UpToDate can help but aren't "practical" enough for the calculations stuff. They are useful to sound intelligent about the basics of preterm infant care and growth.

 

[BabyDoc86]

As a third year, your job is to learn the basics, especially how to present. Don't worry too much about the other stuff. Be eager, ask to do things; for level II and III NICUs, unless there is some stipulation that medical students can't participate in deliveries, you should be going to deliveries and may be able to assist with parts of resuscitation. Ask lots of questions! I tell all of my students that the main reason for doing a NICU rotation in MS3/4 is so that these babies aren't so scary anymore.