This lecture series was born over a pitcher of beer in the Big Ten Pub on Washington Avenue, out of a perceived need to standardize acute and critical care training for pediatric residents. Our goal is not to convince everyone how wonderful critical care is as a sub-specialty (it is), or to convince everyone they should pursue a fellowship in pediatric critical care (we like our jobs, and don't need the competition), but to prepare physicians to handle acute situations involving pediatric patients as an extension beyond PALS.
What we did set out to do was to create a core series of lectures that would cover the most common issues in acutely ill children, and then emphasize the basics in initial management. Ideally this informal course will give residents the fundamental knowledge they need when they are in practice, possibly in a rural location, where they are the physician responsible for managing an acutely ill child.
Our initial goal was to help prepare interns to become senior residents in the ICU. Our approach was twofold: 1) to provide lectures in these core areas, and 2) to back the lectures up with comprehensive handouts. In addition we have tried to provide recent review articles on each of the subject areas, two or three in each area, to help provide a breadth of resources for further information on a subject.
Secondly, we are trying to further educate the senior residents by giving some of the physiology and pathophysiology behind acute and critical illness. Each handout delves into some of the basic mechanisms underlying the various illnesses, helping one to understand the rationale behind the treatments that are used.
Finally we hope to evolve this course with time. We plan to update it, particularly the reference articles, so that they remain current. We also want to make sure we are addressing the needs of the resident, and as they move on, all primary physicians involved in the care of pediatric patients, be they pediatricians, ER docs, family practitioners, or other non-physician caregivers. To do this we need your input. If you find a common situation you would like us to address, let us know. Please tell us if you have other suggestions to make this a better course or series.