Description:
At Elmhurst Hospital (Site 2), the Consult Service includes a Neurology attending, one PGY-3 neurology resident and two to three medical students. Teaching rounds are held six days a week, including Sundays with the covering resident. The role of the Neurology Consult resident is similar at each site. The neurology resident is responsible for seeing and examining all patients on whom a consultation is requested and writing a thorough consult note. The resident then presents the case to the attending and together they decide on recommendations. The resident is also primarily responsible for following up diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations, communicating with the primary teams and teaching the medical students.
Goals
To teach residents to provide comprehensive and effective consultative neurological care to inpatients at Elmhurst Hospital.
To foster an understanding of this complex public health delivery system, and to develop skills in working effectively within it.
To teach residents to perform consultative duties and communicate collaboratively with members of other healthcare teams in the care of patients with neurologic complaints.
Objectives
The resident will:
Gather essential and accurate information on all patients seen in consultation in order to develop and carry out a diagnostic and therapeutic plan, to be overseen by the consult neurologist on service (Patient Care)
Lead the consult team on work and teaching rounds with the attending (Patient Care)
Supervise the work of the medical students on service, particularly overseeing the development of their skills in history-taking, neurological examination, note-writing and presentation (Patient Care)
Collaborate with teams from other medical and surgical services to provide the best medical care possible (Patient Care, Interpersonal and Communication Skills)
Develop throughout the year the ability to recognize, diagnose and manage neurological disorders most common to the Elmhurst Hospital population, including cerebrovascular disease, neurocysticercosis, head trauma, tropical infections of the CNS, neurological co-morbidities associated with HIV including PML and HIV dementia, and the neurological effects of substance abuse; self-assess for lapses in knowledge periodically over the year and correct through self-directed reading and patient exposure, if possible (Medical Knowledge, Practice-Based Learning and Improvement)
Participate in the education of rotators and medical students on the service (Practice-Based Learning and Improvement)
Integrate formative feedback from attendings, colleagues and students into daily practices (Practice-Based Learning and Improvement)
Learn to effectively communicate with all patients despite language and cultural barriers (Interpersonal and Communication Skills)
Write comprehensive and effective consultation and follow-up notes that clearly document the neurological history and exam and provide useful recommendations, educationally and management-wise, for the primary service taking care of the patient (Interpersonal and Communication Skills)
Provide clear and directed performance feedback to medical students on the Elmhurst consult service based on the goals and objectives of the rotation (Interpersonal and Communication Skills)
Demonstrate respect for patient confidentiality and autonomy (Professionalism)
Demonstrate sensitivity to the needs and challenges of and serve as an advocate for the vulnerable Elmhurst Hospital patient population (Professionalism, Systems-Based Practice)
Practice cost-effectively and allocate resources appropriately, without compromising patient care quality, in keeping with the goals and mission of this city hospital (Systems-Based Practice)
Advocate for the vulnerable patient population serviced by Elmhurst Hospital and help guide them through the system complexities of American health care (Systems-Based Practice)