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PL-1: The Intern Year

Rotation Schedule
General Inpatient 4 blocks
Ambulatory Pediatrics 2 blocks
Emergency Department 2 blocks
Neonatal Intensive Care 2 blocks
Term Newborn Nursery 1 block
Developmental Pediatrics 1 block
Advocacy 1 block

The focus for the intern (PL-1) year is to learn the diagnosis, management, and follow up of acutely and chronically ill infants and children. An important aspect of this year of training is to learn what is normal for each age and to be identify when a child falls outside this range. There are four blocks of general inpatient pediatrics in the first year. Residents care for pediatric patients of all ages while rotating on each of our two inpatient hospitalist teams. Residents work closely with the hospitalists, who are responsible for regular educational sessions for the residents. Residents also work with the pediatric pharmacists, nurse practitioners, and pediatric subspecialists during their inpatient rotations. One of the four blocks is spent on night shift.

A total of three blocks are dedicated to ambulatory pediatrics. Two rotations are in the general pediatric clinic at University Pediatric and Adolescent Center, where residents care for acute and chronic problems and address issues in preventive health maintenance.  One block of child development provides supervised experiences in a variety of community settings to learn about variations in behavior and development, and to also learn about the diagnosis and management of children with developmental disabilities.

Of the three-block neonatal experience, one concentrates on the evaluation and care of the full term newborn in both the nursery and outpatient settings. Two blocks are spent in the neonatal intensive care unit, where the resident will learn the care of the sick or premature infant, neonatal resuscitation, and delivery room stabilization. Interns do one of their NICU rotations at St. Joseph's Hospital, and the other at Crouse Hospital.

Two months are spent in our pediatric emergency department learning acute care management. Through direct patient care and patient simulation technology, residents become credentialed to perform all of the Residency Review Committee (RRC) required skills.

One block in the intern year is a career pathway block. Primary Care Skills is required for all interns and sets the stage for the remaining years of residency. Clinical experiences include seeing patients in our International Health Clinic and ENHANCE.

Interns also spend time as "nurse for a day" in the outpatient clinic, working with the nurses to learn about proper vital sign and anthropometric measurement, and to gain experience giving vaccines.

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