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Core Knowledge

Exposure: Residents take in-house call every fourth night during which they will be responsible for the care of all of the SICU and incoming injured patients under the supervision of an attending faculty member. One of the attending faculty will make daily rounds in the SICU. The daily ICU rounds consist of clinical decision making, integrated with didactic teaching. Topics of daily discussion are based on current clinical problems to allow for practical application of newly acquired knowledge. A sit down hourly conference is part of each day's rounding Monday through Friday and is based on collected readings and current patient problems.

Didactic Teaching: Didactic teaching is accomplished through a number of specific conferences. These include:

  1. Daily bedside rounds and daily SICU conferences covering topics from a teaching syllabus prepared specifically for the surgical intensive care unit at UCSD;
  2. Thursday morning critical care lecture series;
  3. Bimonthly research wiriting conference where clinical projects and the basics of clinical research are reviewed;
  4. Thursday Lunch journal club which covers core topics throughout the year;
  5. Alternating Friday orthopedics combined conference;
  6. Wednesday morning Surgery M&M where complications are discussed;
  7. Monthly SICU Quality Assurance group where concepts of administration are discussed with the nursing staff and other paramedical personnel supporting the ICU;
  8. Residents are taken to the Medical Audit Committee for the care of injured and sick patients within San Diego County and allowed to see how this process is administrated.