Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery Elective 5 Credits/Maximum of 5

Catalog description

This fourth-year elective provides an introduction to the operative repair and peri-operative management of simple and complex congenital heart disease. PED (SURG) 745 Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery Elective (5)This elective in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery is offered to fourth-year medical students with an interest in congenital heart disease. It is principally targeted at students who plan a career in pediatrics, surgery, or pediatric or adult cardiology. The course is offered year-round on a monthly basis, with enrollment limited to 1-2 students per rotation. Students will work exclusively with attending surgeons in the clinical environment, and will participate in the comprehensive surgical management of infants, children, and adults with congenital heart disease. Clinical exposure will be provided to the initial surgical consultation, the judgment and rationale for operative versus non-operative management, the preoperative family counseling meeting and informed consent process, and the formulation of the operative plan. In the operating room, students will second-assist with pediatric heart surgery and will gain first-hand appreciation of the anatomic defects and their surgical repair. Postoperatively, students will participate in clinical rounds on pediatric heart surgery patients, and will follow the patients to discharge. The elective will emphasize the multi-disciplinary approach to the management of congenital heart disease, with collaborative exposure to pediatric cardiology, pediatric critical care, cardiac anesthesia, and cardiology for adults with congenital heart disease. Didactic lectures, case presentations, and reviews will be provided to students as an introduction to the major heart defects. Students will gain skill in the interpretation of echocardiograms, and will have the opportunity to view, in real-time, intraoperative transesophageal echo images, and correlate those images to the live, beating heart. Students will also gain skill in interpretation of cardiac MRI and CT angiography. The course is offered as an elective for students seeking an advanced introduction to surgery for congenital heart defects. The course is not intended as an acting-internship; thus, there is no in-house call, and limited night or weekend clinical requirements. A pre-test and a post-test will be administered.