NICU Subinternship 

Director:    Bhavesh L. Shah, M. D.

Duration:   4 weeks
Students per month:   1

This rotation is intended to expose the student to inpatient activities in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).  The NICU at Baystate Medical Center is a 55-bed unit and admits approximately 800 newborn infants per year.  The unit provides intensive, intermediate, and continuing care.  Naturally, this provides students with experience in managing a wide variety of clinical problems and a wealth of learning opportunities.

The student will be assigned to a senior pediatric resident who works under the direct supervision of a neonatologist in the NICU.  The student will accompany the resident in all his/her activities and is expected to be on call at night.  Activities will include accompanying the resident to the labor and delivery room to attend high-risk deliveries, becoming involved in resuscitation and stabilization of the newborn infant, treating emergencies in the delivery room and transporting infants to the NICU.  In the NICU, the student will be assigned to a limited number of patients to care for under the co-supervision of a senior pediatric resident and neonatologist.  The student will be expected to:

• Learn to identify and stabilize the high risk infant;
• Understand the pathophysiology of the disease process;
• Learn comprehensive evaluation of body functions;
• Learn use of assisted ventilation;
• Learn common procedures such as starting an IV infusion, spinal taps, bladder taps and inserting umbilical arterial catheters. 
  
  

Students will be required to be on call every fourth night and to work one weekend per month.

If you are interested in our 4th year elective, please submit an application.