Below are commonly asked questions we receive about our fellowship & life in our program.
Does your program accept residents from both emergency medicine and pediatric backgrounds?
Yes.
Do fellows get trained by faculty from both a pediatric background and an emergency medicine background?
Yes: At this time we have 10 faculty members who are pediatric and pediatric emergency medicine fellowship trained. We additionally have one faculty who is emergency medicine and pediatric residency trained. One faculty who is pediatric and pediatric critical care trained.
How long is your training program?
Three years for pediatric trained. Two years for emergency medicine trained.
Do you have a lot of clinical practice guidelines?
We have nursing order sets for designated patient complaints that expedite care for certain subsets of patients such as neonates with fever, hyperglycemia, sickle cell patients with pain crises and fever. We have guidelines for asthma, bronchiolitis, DKA, appendicitis, and sexual assault. There are a number of trauma guidelines for head injury, cervical spine injury, difficult airway, trauma imagining, massive transfusion, and resuscitation. Other guidelines are being developed.
Are you based in the department of Pediatrics or the department of Emergency Medicine?
We are based in the department of Emergency Medicine.
What is your population of patients like?
We have been a separate but contiguous emergency department with the general emergency department since 1999. We see about 30,000 patients a year. Our age cutoff is 21 years. However, we only manage acute trauma patients up to the age of 13 years. We serve a population of 560,000 in the immediate metropolitan area and are considered an urban teaching hospital with the associated demographics that are typical for that setting. About 60% of our patients are Medicaid, and about 10% are self pay. We have about 75% of the market share in our region.
What are fellow shifts like?
Fellows perform as junior supervisors early in fellowship. Fellows primarily work a 3p – 12 a shift with occasional day and overnight shifts.
What kind of labs do you have to practice low volume, high risk procedures.
We have a cadaver lab in conjunction with the emergency medicine residency, a pig lab, and a simulation lab. The institution has a high fidelity simulation lab.
Do you have any pediatric services that are not represented at your institution.
All but pediatric dermatology are represented as subspecialties in pediatrics at our institution.
How do you chart your medical records in the pediatric emergency department.
We use electronic charting exclusively. We are transitioning to Epic in October 2024. Our department works closely on refining and making changes appropriate for the emergency setting.
Are there any limitations regarding the provision of procedural sedation in the emergency department setting?
No. We are fortunate to have our assistant medical director as part of the sedation committee for the hospital. ED physicians perform all the procedural sedation in the emergency department. We are able to use propofol, ketamine and nitrous as well as other sedatives for appropriate levels of sedation.
Do you use bedside ultrasound in the Pediatric Emergency Department?
We have several ultrasound machines in the Pediatric ED. We additionally offer a pediatric emergency ultrasound medicine fellowship.
What kind of attending coverage do you have in the Pediatric Emergency Department?
At present there are three overlapping shifts 7a-4p, 3p-12a, and 11p-7a. There is double attending coverage midday/evening during the winter months.
