C. S. Mott Children's Hospital
Inpatient Pediatrics
Our inpatient rotations consist of four general inpatient units, each of which has a core of general patients and several groups of subspecialty patients. There is also a dedicated hematology/oncology service.
Residents spend a minimum of five months on general inpatient services at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Inpatient services are organized to permit the resident to manage a wide variety of pediatric problems necessitating hospital management. The diversity of admitting diagnoses ranges from common primary care problems such as asthma and dehydration, to extremely complex diagnostic or management dilemmas referred from other hospitals in the region, state, and beyond. Each of the inpatient services admits general pediatrics patients, as well as patients from one or two specific subspecialty services. Thus, each of the four inpatient services has its own unique character; residents will spend time on each of the four services over the course of their training. Pediatric hospitalists and pediatric subspecialists attend on the inpatient services. Patient-focused, family-centered rounds with faculty are held seven days a week.
We have recently developed several new initiatives to improve the residents’ educational experiences on the inpatient services. First, we have deployed Resident Assistants (RAs) for each of the general inpatient teams, for hem/onc service, and in the NICU. The RAs function by taking over clerical duties previously performed by the pediatric residents in the care of their patients, such as obtaining patient records, test scheduling, and assisting with discharge. The goal of the RAs is to allow residents to spend more time with patients and families, to spend more time in meaningful patient care activities, and to have more time available for both conference-based and self-directed learning.
The University of Michigan has always been at the forefront of information technology and the Health System benefits from this leadership. A robust web-based clinical information system— Careweb—is in place, computer-based order entry is being deployed, and the hospital has built a wireless clinical information network that is used by all clinicians. The Program provides each incoming resident with a laptop computer to facilitate clinical care and charting, to increase efficiency, and for self directed learning.
