Conferences

We have designed our fellowship curriculum to enhance the clinical experience and promote a culture of self-directed learning, supplemented by interactive conferences and dedicated core didactic time. In addition to division-level conferences, the Pediatric Medical Education Department offers a fellowship core conference series covering a wide range of topics relevant to all pediatric subspecialists. Topics covered include teaching skills, contract negotiation, medico-legal aspects of pediatric care among many others. Our divisional didactics include the following conferences:

Weekly Didactics

The fellows’ didactic lecture series utilizes interactive, simulation, and flipped- classroom models designed for adult learners to address the breadth of pediatric critical care medicine topics, including both basic physiologic processes as well as disease-specific states relative to the care of critically ill pediatric patients. Fellows have two hours of protected time per week to be fully present and engaged. Both divisional faculty and outside speakers serve as facilitators. This curriculum covers the core content of pediatric critical care training as set forth by the American Board of Pediatrics.

Weekly Professor’s Rounds

In this weekly conference, faculty and fellows alike discuss the management of a recent or current patient admitted to the PICU, highlighting relevant physiology topics, as well as the art of complex decision-making in the critical care environment. This is a particularly popular conference with our fellows.

Weekly Cardiothoracic Surgery Conference

This multidisciplinary conference includes the cardiothoracic surgery team, anesthesiologists, cardiologists and intensivists. Interdisciplinary providers present on topics such as, though not limited to, cardiac anomalies, cardiac physiology, surgical technique, perioperative/postoperative care and common complications.

Bi-Weekly Journal Club & Journal Watch

In this series, fellows strengthen their ability to interpret, critique and apply current evidence to pediatric critical care. During Journal Watch, fellows highlight the latest results from 4-5 recently published articles pertinent to pediatric critical care. During Journal Club, fellows present one study from the recent literature, while another complementary recent or “classic” article is reviewed briefly to put the primary study in context.

Bi-Weekly Morbidity and Mortality & QI Conferences

In this multidisciplinary conference, admissions to the ICU are reviewed with particular attention paid to elements of system-based practice and quality improvement. Colleagues in attendance include nursing, respiratory therapy, social work, child life, pharmacology and others. High yield morbidity and mortality cases with salient learning points are identified for further in depth discussion and presentation among the faculty and fellows of the division.

Quarterly Management Conference

For this conference, senior-level fellows present a medical management question in PICO (population, intervention, comparison, outcome) format. The relevant literature is collected with guidance from the pediatric librarian and synthesized and presented by the fellow with guidance from a faculty mentor.

Quarterly Critical Care / Emergency Medicine Management Conference

The Divisions of Pediatric Critical Care and Emergency Medicine host a joint conference four times a year to discuss a particularly interesting or challenging patient cared for by both teams. The PCCM and PEM fellows involved in the care of the patient present the case and a comprehensive discussion of the management from the perspective of both divisions ensues. The conference is preceded by a high-yield, dual-specialty simulation, hosted in our simulation center at the hospital.