Intensive Care Unit Acting Internship

The GW Hospital ICU is a unique multidisciplinary critical care unit that cares for all adult surgical and medical patients with the exception of burns. Students work as an AI with residents from Surgery, Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine, and Internal Medicine, and are closely supervised by the Critical Care attending physician and fellow. There is a great deal of clinical bedside teaching, as well as didactic presentations 4 days/week, daily x-ray rounds, and other collaborative teaching exercises. The student will learn how to evaluate and initiate treatment of the critically ill adult, including airway and ventilator management, resuscitation of shock, hemodynamic evaluation and interpretation, cardiovascular support, renal replacement therapy, nutritional support, use of blood component therapy, and peri-operative management. Students are taught and allowed to perform procedures.

Course Learning Objectives:

By the end of this course, the student should be able to:

1. Demonstrate the ability to gather information necessary to care for critically ill patients via patient and family interviews and chart review.
2. Perform both comprehensive and focused physical exams on critically ill patients.
3. Demonstrate the ability to present critically ill patients on rounds in a system-based format.
4. Practice developing an assessment and plan for critically ill patients.
5. Use information to adjust the plan as a patients condition changes.
6. Apply appropriate treatment strategies to different sources of shock.
7. Practice developing a management plan for electrolyte derangements.
8. Interpret the need for resuscitation in patients with septic shock.
9. Apply medical standards to the selection of antibiotics for a variety of infections.
10. Practice developing a management plan for a hypertensive emergency.
11. Demonstrate the ability to work within an interdisciplinary team.
12. Practice communicating difficult information to patients and families.
13. Demonstrate empathetic patient-centered communication when discussing end of life care issues.
14. Practice organizing information for transition of patient care across different healthcare settings.

See syllabus for additional details.