UVA Outpatient: Optimizing NBN and ICN time

Peter · Site Admin Joined: 18 May 2007 Posts: 32

Currently, the outpatient month at UVA consists of one week of Newborn Nursery (NBN) and one week of Intermediate Care Nursery (ICN).

The purposes of these rotations are to educate us on the newborn exam and perinatal medical issues, to understand the postnatal significance of prenatal care, and to gain exposure to a neonatal critical care setting.

Most of the action in the NBN happens before noon. PMs are for deliveries and teaching time. In the ICN, some students have commented that rounds are long and that their involvement seems insignificant. On the other hand, the structure of the ICN rotation allows for significant PM teaching time.

Questions to discuss:

* Combining the two experiences would free a week of time, the scheduling of which should remain a separate topic of discussion. *

aj2v · Joined: 22 Aug 2007 Posts: 4 Location: C'ville

I agree that the current structure is not a great use of student time. However, I don't think that combining the two weeks is the best solution. It takes a couple of days to understand how each service works. Combining the two would make the whole experience confusing and disorienting.

During my time in the nurseries, the afternoons were essentially wasted. There was a lot of sitting around and not a lot of teaching (or learning). I think a better solution would be to keep 1 week of ICN and 1 week of Newborn, BUT have students attend outpatient clinic after the lunch lecture. This would increase clinic time and also make ICN and NBN productive experiences.