2W: Critical Care Medicine

School of Medicine

This course is an introduction to the field of critical care medicine. Students in this rotation are expected to become familiar with the physiology and pathophysiology of critical illness and the care of the critically ill patient. Additionally, they will be expected to integrate basic knowledge of pharmacology and physiology with clinical care and decision-making across two or more ICUs. An early exposure to the breadth of critical care is imperative for every physician in training, as throughout their career they will be expected to recognize life threatening illness and injury and know the indications for providing care. Additionally, it is important to know the long term sequelae associated with critical illness and the socioeconomics of critical care. The students will be expected to attend ICU rounds and to follow the care of 1-2 patients assigned to them who are admitted to the ICU. In addition, they will be assigned to select faculty daily to present their patient. This will require them to understand the physiology and pathophysiology of the disease process to present a working differential diagnosis. They will also be expected to attend daily teaching sessions with the select faculty based on a pre-determined schedule. This includes synthesizing information from the electronic medical record, the bedside nurses, the consulting physicians, and the primary team.