Mission

The University of Kentucky PA Hospital Medicine residency is dedicated to train Physician Assistant graduates in the field of critical care to provide exceptional healthcare to the critical ill patient.

Purpose

• To educate and prepare recent PA graduates for transition into hospital medicine
• Meeting the healthcare needs for providing hospital medicine in the community
• Changing how PAs are educated in the everchanging healthcare delivery system from a physician training on the job of a new graduate in the field of hospital medicine, to now meeting the demands of employers (hospitals) to be ready to practice at a higher level of competency

Benefits

• Readiness to start working at a higher level of competency
• Competitive advantage in employment
• Meeting the need for sub-specialize care in hospital industry

Program Goals

• To prepare the physician assistant (PA) to deliver healthcare in the field of hospital medicine that is beyond the newly graduate level to an advance level of knowledge and skills
• Educate competent hospital medicine physician assistant to function at a higher level than a generalist PA
• The education of the physician assistant for the practice of managing and caring for in hospital patients encompasses education in basic science, training in cognitive and technical skills, development of clinical knowledge and maturity in the acquisition of clinical care thinking and judgement

Program Objectives

• Medical Knowledge:
  • Acute and Chronic Respiratory Failure as well Ventilatory-Associated Events
  • Shock/Resuscitation
  • Acute and Chronic Renal Disease 
  • Cardiac Disorders
  • Neurologic Disorders – ie. stroke
  • Gastrointestinal (GI) Disorders
  • Hepatic and Biliary Tract disease – ie. Liver Failure
  • Nutritional support
  • Infectious Diseases-hospital acquired infections
  • Sepsis
  • Pulmonary Diseases
  • Substance use disorders
  • Hyponatremia 
  • Syncope
  • Pain management
  • Perioperative Medicine
• Patient care:
  • Respiratory Failure
  • Acute and Chronic Pulmonary Disease
  • Shock/Resuscitation
  • Acute and Chronic Renal Disease
  • Cardiac Disorders
  • Arrhythmias 
  • Neurologic Disorders
  • Gastrointestinal (GI) Disorders
  • Liver Failure
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Sepsis
  • Substance use disorder – Alcohol and drug withdrawal
  • Hyponatremia
  • Nutritional support
  • Stroke
  • Syncope
  • Seizures
  • Procedural Competencies
• Systems-Based Practice
  • Administrative Responsibility
  • Coordination and Transitions of Care
  • Billing and Coding
• Practice-Based Learning and Improvement
  • Improvement of Care
  • Teaching
  • Self-Directed Learning
  • Clinical skills and procedures
• Professionalism:
  • Professionalism and Personal Behavior
  • Ethical Issues in Critically-ill Patients
  • Personal Responsibility
  • Healthy Work Environment
• Interpersonal and Communication Skills:
  • Effective Communication with Patients and Families
  • Effective communication with the Healthcare Team

Rotation Schedule

• 1st month: Orientation & Hospital Medicine – Day service (Core didactic – Review of ACLS, Pre, and Post op care, general surgery conditions)
• 2nd month: Hospital Medicine – Day service (Core didactic -GI)        
• 3rd month: Perioperative Medicine –Day service (Core didactic -Pulmonary & Shock)
• 4th month: Hospital Medicine wards – Day Service (Core didactic – Cardiology)
• 5th month: Admitting service – Day/swing/nights service (Core didactic – Neurology-stroke)
• 6th month: Hospital Medicine Consults – Day service (Core didactic – Seizures)
• 7th month: Perioperative Medicine – Day service (Core didactic – Nephrology)
• 8th month: Hospital Medicine wards – Day service - (Core didactic – Infectious disease with emphases on sepsis)
• 9th month: Hospital Medicine wards – Day service (Core didactic – Critical Care)
• 10th month: Admitting service 
• 11th month: Elective (Addiction Medicine and Medical Oncology)
• 12th month: Hospital Medicine Consults - Day Service

12 months Total

Procedural Competencies

1. All the items in the UK hospital for medical privilege
2. Thoracentesis
3. ABGs
4. Drain removal and central line removal
5. Suture and staple removal
6. Lumbar puncture
7. Imaging interpretation
8. ECG interpretation and telemetry monitoring
9. Paracentesis

Essential Experiences

1. Swarm/Patient Safety Training
2. Sim lab scenarios
3. Fundamental of Critical Care Course (Oct.)

Conferences

1. Division of Hospital Medical Conference (weekly)
2. Internal Medicine Grand Rounds (Friday, weekly)
3. Quarterly APP Journal Club (with other APP’s in UK
4. UK APP lecture series (monthly)
5. Morbidity and Mortality
6. Recommend one national conference