Pediatric Inpatient Service
The primary goal of this rotation is to provide residents with the knowledge and skills necessary to assess, diagnose, treat and develop discharge planning for patients admitted to the hospital. The Pediatric Consultation and Referral Service (PCRS) is the attending hospitalist group primarily responsible for resident education and patient care. Residents participate in the care of all patients on the general pediatric service. On-call shifts for interns are every fourth night. Senior resident call is divided into a short call during weekdays with assistance from a night float system and long call on weekends. All inpatient rotations are completed at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas.
Pediatric Intensive Care
The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) is a 24-bed unit and the only critical care facility expressly for children in Central Texas. Residents, working with a team of pediatric intensivists, subspecialists, and nurse practitioners, participate in the care of all patients admitted to the PICU. Emphasis is placed on a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to care for a diverse and challenging patient population. The PICU team is also involved in the care of children from the Regional Heart Program, providing residents with exposure to patients with a wide variety of congenital heart diseases. Dell Children's PICU is served by a medical transport team, including air transport, which covers a 46-county area.
Neonatal Intensive Care
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, located at Brackenridge Hospital, is a 28-bed facility that supports over 400 admissions per year. This facility provides Level 2 and Level 3 services for two OB suites at Brackenridge Hospital, as well as for Austin and the surrounding areas. In conjunction with neonatologists and subspecialists, second year residents provide care for preterm neonates. In addition, resident responsibilities include attending high risk deliveries and supervising junior residents and medical students. Third year residents complete their NICU rotation at Dell Children’s Level 3 NICU, which specializes in premature neonates with complex medical and/or surgical issues.
Newborn Nursery
The primary goal of this experience is to provide residents with a fundamental knowledge of newborn medicine. The responsibilities of the resident in the newborn nursery include performing complete newborn exams in the perinatal period and caring for newborns during their nursery stay. The intern also attends all the high-risk deliveries with a senior resident or faculty member. The 3600 total deliveries provide valuable delivery room and neonatal resuscitation experience.
Pediatric Emergency Center
Residents complete their EM rotations at The Topfer Emergency Center at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas. Resident responsibilities range from the evaluation and stabilization of critically ill children to management of common pediatric injuries and illness. Residents also have many opportunities during their EM months to perform pediatric procedures.