A Novel Curriculum to Optimize Emergency Medicine Residents’ Exposure to Pediatrics
Abstract
Recognizing the profound impact that emergency medicine residency graduates have on the quality of the emergency care of children, residency training programs must provide a broad clinical experience and training in pediatric care. Traditionally, part of this training has included a hospital ward rotation in inpatient pediatrics. However, these experiences may be perceived by learners as being educationally low-yield in terms of direct applicability to the practice of emergency medicine. This educational innovation describes the development of a novel curriculum for teaching pediatrics to emergency medicine residents. Rather than focusing on tasks disconnected from emergency medicine practice, residents provide the initial clinical care for patients in the emergency department in a professional setting situated to mirror their ultimate professional practice. The innovation involves longitudinal patient follow-up, with mentored supervision and discussion to reinforce learning. The curriculum includes dedicated Pediatric ED time, deliberate inpatient and phone follow-up, ward rounds, focused pediatric topics, and direct observation assessment and feedback on pediatric clinical skills. This novel curriculum emphasizes the importance of situated learning, and is one component of a longitudinal teaching plan for pediatrics within an emergency medicine residency.