Providence St. Vincent Medical Center: Conferences
To further enhance educational opportunities, residents at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center are exposed to a variety of didactic conferences on a daily basis. These conferences encompass a variety of topics of interest to students, residents and attending physicians.
Morning Report is held four days a week, with one day reserved for Grand Rounds. The format includes a case presentation by the house staff, followed by discussion moderated by the full-time faculty. The conference is structured with clearly defined learning objectives to maximize the educational content. Subspecialists are present to further enhance the discussion. A one-month sample of topics is listed below:
Nephrotic syndrome
ARF, Wegener's
Pancreatitis
HIV (new diagnosis, presenting with elevated liver enzymes)
Dyspnea secondary to postpartum pre-eclampsia
Pulmonary embolism in a von Willebrand's patient requiring surgery
Hypercalcemia, secondary to metastasis
Neutropenic fever
Diagnosis of acute sinusitis, strep throat, bronchitis
Bronchiectasis in a 28-year-old
Weakness due to hypokalemia
Necrotizing fasciitis with toxic shock syndrome
Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome
Hyponatremia with psychosis
Pleural effusion, hemorrhagic
Pyelonephritis
Disseminated varicella-zoster
Noon Conference is held four times a week. Invited speakers from all specialties give informal, interactive talks. The noon conference lectures are designed to allow a systematic exposure to the important topics of internal medicine. A sample list of topics is given below:
Acute stroke management
Anemia work-up
Coma: etiologies and evaluation of patient
Community-acquired pneumonia (discussion of guidelines)
Cushing’s disease
Electrolyte disorders
Endocarditis, diagnosis and treatment
Ethics conference: conflicts of judgment: futile and harmful interventions
Health policy, economics, and system thinking: Medicare
Hospital management of the diabetic patient
Hypothyroidism, a practical guide to the diagnosis and treatment
Infectious disorders in rheumatology
Jaundice, etiology and work-up
Menopausal management with naturopathic medicine
Nutrition issues for the inpatient
Oncologic emergencies
Osteomalacia
Pathology rounds
Sudden cardiac death: etiologies and prevention
Unstable angina, management
Ventilation management
Medical Grand Rounds are held once a week and provide the opportunity to hear from leaders in the local community as well as nationally known speakers on current topics in internal medicine.
Chief meetings are conducted once a week, and are run by both the residency program director and the chief resident. These include a monthly resident meeting, a monthly Morbidity and Mortality Conference and two intern/medical student skills sessions.
This conference is specifically designed to enhance the resident’s skills in the rapid use of information technology to answer clinical questions that arise during everyday practice. Although the conference focuses on ambulatory topics, the principles of seeking new knowledge to modify one’s approach to clinical problems can be extrapolated to specialty as well as generalist practice.
This monthly conference provides an opportunity for residents to meet with a pathologist, review patients' microscopic slides and discuss the findings in relationship to the clinical history.
Numerous other conferences occur throughout the hospital, including oncology conference and chest conference. Residents are always invited and encouraged to attend.
