Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine

Students will learn about management of patients with acute and chronic childhood disabilities including but not limited to cerebral palsy, Spina Bifida, brain injury, neuromuscular disorders, and other disorders of the spinal cord. The rotation includes inpatient consults and ambulatory clinics including but not limited to general PRM clinics and multidisciplinary Muscular Dystrophy, White Matter Disorders, and Spina Bifida clinics. Students will learn the functional neuromuscular exam, become familiar with physical and occupational therapy, adaptive equipment and orthoses and will get exposure to chemodenervation procedures as a part of spasticity management. No weekends or call. Although there are limited opportunities to work with pediatric residents during the clinical portion of the elective, there are opportunities to work with Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine fellows and PM&R residents. Moreover, regular attendance at pediatric resident conferences is encouraged and is required for the didactics at the PM&R Division.

Course Learning Objectives:

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

1. Discuss strategies for managing patients with acute and chronic childhood disabilities including but not limited to Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida and other disorders of Spinal Cord, Brain Injury, Neuromuscular disorders.
2. Demonstrate clinical skills including functional neuromuscular exam.
3. Describe indications for physical and occupational therapy, therapeutic equipment, and orthoses.
4. Define chemodenervation procedures as a part of spasticity management.