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Pediatric Clerkship

Marcellina Mian, M.D., Clerkship Director
Amal Khidir, M.D., Clerkship Associate Director
Deema Al-Sheikhly, MRes, Clinical Curriculum Coordinator
Yoga Hassan, Clinical Curriculum Assistant

The Pediatric clerkship is a 6-week course offered at 3 different sites: Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Rumaillah Hospital, and Primary Health Centers (PHC). In HMC sites used are {pediatric wards, newborn nursery, Pediatric Emergency Center (PEC)}. The clerkship has the following breakdown: 3 weeks In-Patient, 3 weeks including ambulatory care and nursery.

The aims of this rotation are to introduce students to the clinical practice of Pediatrics, to familiarize them with the biomedical bases for this area of clinical medicine, and to promote the development of critical thinking in clinical practice through the use of epidemiological data and differential diagnosis. Specific goals are listed below:

1. Learn to perform newborn and pediatric history and physical exams.
2. Recognize normal patterns of growth and development.
3. Be able to generate differential diagnosis for common pediatric complaints
4. Gain familiarity with the management of common pediatric problems.

For specific objectives, see the Council on Medical Student Education in Pediatrics curriculum (in packet and also available at www.comsep.org).

Didactic teaching will occur in Morning Report, Attending Rounds, Housestaff Conferences, Videoconferences, Live Lectures and Tutor Groups. Students are expected to attend all didactic teaching sessions and all other Rounds and Conferences with their respective teams.

All students will meet at HMC Learning Center according to the lecture and tutorial session schedule. These will be held on Thursday from 12-5 PM and Sunday to Wednesday from 3-5 PM. We suggest you read on the topics prior to the lectures/tutorials.

The Tutor will meet with the students 2-3 times per week (total 3-6 hours/week) to review cases and general topics in Pediatrics. Students are expected to hand in at least 2 case write-ups during the clerkship and to present one PowerPoint presentation on a case (see Power Point Presentation Tip sheet). The PowerPoint presentations will be given to the HMC staff in groups of 4 students, each presenting over 10-15 minutes. These are given in the Noon conference (11 AM - 12 PM) in the last week of the 3 week block of the In-patient (ward) service.

Students will spend 3 weeks on the In-Patient service. Students should function as an integral part of the In-Patient team without interruptions to their daily schedule on the floor. Each student should try to carry 3-4 patients at a time. The Consultant/Senior Residents will help decide which patients are most suitable for the students to follow. Please see the daily routine in your packet for further details.

Each student will spend 3 days in the Newborn Nursery/ NICU. The students will join team D (Postpartum team). Attending deliveries and mastering the newborn exam are the major goals of this week. Time in the NICU is encouraged. Please see the daily routine in your packet for further details. The Newborn Guide is also available for you.

Each student will spend 10 days in the PEC. The student will be assigned to a team and follow the shift schedule for that team, including days off. However, the student should attend all scheduled lectures and tutorials even if they interrupt a shift. It is the student’s responsibility to communicate with the team leader regarding time missed from the shift and to make arrangements to make up the time, if required..

Each student will spend one Wednesday in the PHC Well Baby Clinic at either West Bay (WB) or Air Port (AP) Health Centers.

Call is as follows (to be assigned by HMC teams):

1. Three calls till 11 PM including one weekend day during the In-patient experience
2. One call in labor and Delivery till 11 PM during the Nursery experience

Students will be expected to write an admission note and complete daily notes on each of their patients. Try to be thorough but concise so that the person reading them can understand the patient’s problems and current status from your note. Daily notes should not be more than one page long. If you leave the service before that patient is discharged, you should write an off-service note. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure all notes are co-signed by a resident or staff physician. The student should also be proactive and ask for feedback from the team and tutors.

The patients selected for the 2 case write-ups and PowerPoint presentation may come from the ambulatory, newborn nursery, or In-Patient services. Write-ups should demonstrate the student’s understanding of the complete differential and work-up of the presenting problem. Also, they must address all other problems, e.g., lab or vital sign abnormalities, social problems. The first write–up must be handed in by the 2nd Monday of the inpatient placement and the second by the 3rd Monday.

During the 6-week rotation, you are expected to read an abbreviated Pediatric text from cover to cover so that you gain a broad general fund of knowledge in Pediatrics. The recommended text is Nelson’s Essentials of Pediatrics (Baby Nelson). Of course, when working up patients and preparing for Tutorial Group, you are expected to read the relevant sections in major textbooks and in current literature.

• Texts
  • Rudolph’s
  • Nelson’s
  • Current Pediatrics

• Journals
  • Pediatrics
  • Pediatrics in Review
  • Journal of Pediatrics
  • Contemporary Pediatrics
  • Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
  • Pediatric Clinics of North America

• PDA
  • AAP Red Book
  • Harriet Lane
  • Nelson’s

• Electronic databases
  • UpToDate
  • MD Consult
  • Stat!Ref

Please wear scrubs to the PEC and Newborn Nursery. In all other rotations, please dress in a professional manner.

1. Students are required to fill out the Mid-Clerkship Self Assessment Form (enclosed in packet) and to meet with their Tutor in the 3rd week of the rotation.
2. Students will complete a one hour multiple choice tests in the 2nd and 4th weeks of the rotation. The results are to gauge your knowledge and will be discussed with the tutor for formative feedback.

This form must be filled out with the names of your clinical evaluators (enclosed in packet) listing their e-mail addresses. The form should be signed by your Site Director and submitted to Ms Deema Al-Sheikhly

The following must be completed before the end of the rotation:

• Pediatrics Clerkship Clinical Encounter Log
• 3 Structured Clinical Observation forms signed by a resident or attending physician and handed in during the tutorial group. Do not leave these to the last minute

The final grade will be broken down as follows:

• 33% Tutor Evaluation
• 33% Clinical Grade
• 33% Final Exam (NBME Shelf Exam)

NB: To pass this clerkship, you must pass the written examination.

Students are obligated to hand in a hard or electronic copy of their evaluation of the clerkship (Site Evaluation and Faculty/Resident evaluation). These two evaluations should be sent to the curriculum office at WCMC-Q by the latest one week after the end of the clerkship. The student grade will not be released to the student if these documents are not received.