Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine -- Cardiology - Rochester

Description:

Students in this elective are assigned primarily to the outpatient pediatric cardiology area under the direct supervision of a staff pediatric cardiologist. Some inpatient exposure is included in the experience.

Specific Goals:

1. Become familiar with the clinical manifestations and course of patients with congenital cardiac defects by being involved in the history taking and physical examination of such patients.
2. Discuss basic diagnostic modalities
3. Observe echocardiography, exercise stress testing and hemodynamic/electrophysiologic catheterization.

Activity Outline:

Students are assigned primarily to the outpatient facility at Mayo Clinic. They participate in the evaluation of selected patients under appropriate supervision. Evaluation of these patients includes the interpretation of chest radiographs, electrocardiograms and echocardiograms. Students have the opportunity to observe exercise testing procedures. The spectrum of cardiac disorders evaluated in pediatric cardiology includes simple and extremely complex cardiac malformations, as well as patients with functional cardiac murmurs, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, arrhythmia, chest pain and syncope.

Conference Schedule

Method of Evaluation:

Near the end of the elective, staff members interview students to quantify their progress and obtain important feedback for future clerkship experiences in this subspecialty.