ISC: Critical Illness

School of Medicine

Regardless of a student's individual specialty choice, each will be called upon to provide competent care for critically ill patients during their residency training. The successful management of critically ill or injured patients requires a thorough understanding of physiology, pathophysiology, and pharmacology. By combining targeted teaching with hands-on experiences in different ICUs across the medical center, Critical Illness will deepen knowledge of the anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, imaging, biostatistics, ethics, microbiology, neuroscience, nutrition science, pharmacology, and behavioral medicine inherent in critically ill patients. In the first week, all students will be immersed in Critical Care Skills Week, a highly regarded simulation-based learning experience that prepares students to understand the basic principles of recognition and early treatment of the critically ill patient. All students will spend a week caring for patients in one of the following ICUs: Medical, Surgical, Burn, Neurologic, Cardiovascular, or Pediatric ICU. The other 2 weeks will be spent in learner-focused case-based education facilitated by ICU faculty, ICU radiology and palliative care sessions, additional patient-centered experiential learning opportunities and hands-on workshops in ICU-specific technical skills such as airway management, ventilator manipulation, and chest tube placement.