EM Acting Internship Overview

Students participating in the Emergency Medicine Acting Internship (AI) will complete 15 eight-hour shifts over the course of 4 weeks in our Level 1 academic emergency department. Shifts are scheduled throughout our acute care, pediatric, and minor acuity care spaces. Each student will have the opportunity to serve as the primary provider for acutely ill patients with a broad scope of medical and traumatic pathology under the supervision of the attending physician. In addition to the clinical experience, students will also attend weekly resident conference and dedicated AI didactics. Didactic sessions rely heavily on simulation and hands-on workshops to learn essential skills in emergency medicine based on our Pillars of Emergency Medicine.

Students completing an AI work one-on-one with the ED attendings during their shifts and take ownership of their patients. In addition to receiving personalized one-on-one advising from faculty, AI students can receive a Standardized Letter of Evaluation (SLOE) from their rotation with us.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of the rotation, fourth-year medical students will be able to:

• Recognize, interpret, and propose initial interventions for abnormal vital signs

• Generate an appropriate differential diagnosis including a focus on life-threatening conditions organized in order of likelihood with supporting clinical evidence.

• Recommend an initial diagnostic and therapeutic plan for the undifferentiated patient

• Develop and recommend potential plans that identify and address social determinants of health for patients in the ED

• Incorporate hospital and community resources, such as social workers and Thrive, into care plans for patients in the ED

• Prioritize clinical tasks by patient acuity and disposition

• Perform minor procedures of an emergency medicine physician, such as laceration repair, incision and drainage, splinting, and IV placement.

• Develop disposition decisions supported by patient presentation and re-evaluation, diagnostic data, and social factors

• Compare and contrast the presentation, differential diagnosis, workup, and disposition of adult and pediatric patients with common chief complaints, such as fever, abdominal pain, cough, and vomiting.

• Perform common bedside ultrasound examinations, such as FAST, cardiac, and RUSH, on indicated patients

• Describe indications and preparation for endotracheal intubation

• Accurately perform endotracheal intubation in the simulated or clinical environment

• Value the role of the EM doctor as the team leader of a resuscitation

• Effectively communicate with patients, consultants, and other members of the healthcare team to determine a plan of care

• Develop and answer a PICO question utilizing evidence-based medicine

DUTIES

• Students will actively participate in the evaluation and management of the patient as the student's skills allow. Students are encouraged to independently evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients under the direct supervision of an attending.  At the conclusion of the rotation, each student will present a patient case and associated topic pertaining to evidence-based emergency medicine.

PREREQUISITES

• Completion of the following clerkships: internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, OB/Gyn, emergent care, neurology, psychiatry

• All students must have a passing USMLE Step 1 or COMLEX score to rotate.

SCHEDULING/WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

• The EM AI is offered to 4th year students from May through October and is scheduled as a 4-week rotation only.

EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT CONTACT: