ICUs and ED

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Emergency Department

All our interns complete a one-month rotation in the Emergency Department.On this rotation, our interns work with faculty and residents in the Department of Emergency Medicine, which has a strong national reputation for excellence.

There are ample opportunities for a variety of minor procedures, including suturing and incision and drainage. Opportunities for more invasive procedures and bedside ultrasound exists as well for interested residents.During the month, interns typically work twenty 10-hour shifts in various triage-levels of the Emergency Department.

Coronary Care Unit (CCU)

Second- and third-year residents are assigned to one-month CCU rotations in our Dickson Heart Unit (DHU). On this rotation, our residents work with cardiologists from the Sanger Clinic, a large multi-specialty cardiology practice that is part of Atrium Health. A very select number of the group's partners are extended the opportunity to attend on the resident teaching service.

In the Dickson Heart Unit, residents assist in the care of patients with acute cardiac illnesses. Residents are also part of the CODE STEMI team, which is the early response team for ST-elevation Myocardial Infarctions.Residents hear about these patients prior to their arrival, see them as they present to the Emergency Department and then follow them through the cardiac catheterization lab to the CCU.

Residents also provide care to patients with cardiogenic shock or malignant arrhythmias.In addition, our resident gain experience managing advanced cardiac devices including Swan-Ganz monitoring, intra-aortic balloon pumps, pacemakers, implantable cardiac defibrillators and left ventricular assist devices. 

Our CCU rotation is a completely daytime rotation experience with no overnight call, and shifts are no longer than 14 hours duration. A board-certified faculty cardiologist is assigned full-time to the CCU for teaching purposes. A pharmacist, nurse practitioners, and a registered critical care dietitian are part of the CCU team as well.

Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU)

The MICU is a 30-bed state-of-the art unit supervised by full-time critical care faculty. All residents complete a month-long rotation in the MICU during each year of training. Residents participate in a formal curriculum during the rotation which includes an introduction to ventilators, reviews of critical articles on the management of sepsis, and instruction with performing invasive procedures.

We own our own Sono-Site™ ultrasound machine that residents use for line placement without needing to involve the radiology department. We also own our own GlideScope™ that is used to help residents become trained in intubation skills.

A doctor of pharmacology and a registered critical care dietitian are part of the ICU team. Board-certified Critical Care attending physicians are in-house 24 hours a day for assistance with critically ill patients. In addition, residents may receive assistance in critical care management from the Atrium Health Virtual Critical Care service line physician.