Clinical Curriculum

Required rotations

We are an Internal Medicine-based Transitional Program at Grand Strand Medical Center. Through the course of the year, our residents will complete 28 weeks of required rotations in line with ACGME's Fundamental Clinical Skills.

Anesthesia residents are required by ACGME to have an additional 4 weeks in the ICU.

Electives

For the remaining 24 weeks, we allow you to choose from a variety of electives depending on what you want out of your year. Current electives include:

• Allergy and immunology
• Anesthesia
• Cardiology
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology
• Gastroenterology
• General surgery
• Geriatrics
• Hematology/oncology
• Infectious disease
• Intervention radiology procedures
• Neurology
• Ophthalmology
• Orthopedic Surgery
• Pain management
• Pathology
• Pediatrics (inpatient)
• Physical medicine and rehabilitation
• Pulmonary
• Radiation oncology
• Rheumatology
• Surgical intensive care
• Toxicology/advanced ER
• Trauma
• Transitional year clinical research
• Ultrasound
• Wound care

Simulation curriculum

Simulation has become an integral component of medical education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Simulation allows residents to experience difficult, dangerous, or uncommon events/situations in a safe, reproducible and controlled environment where learning is maximized and patient care is not affected. Simulations also allow residents to practice their task-related skills to optimize real-life performance, leading to improved outcomes.

Grand Strand Medical Center is fortunate to have a state-of-the-art simulation center that provides ongoing training for all our residency programs, with a curriculum spanning the entire length of training.

The Grand Strand Health Education and Simulation Center’s mission and vision is “to improve patient safety, quality of care and clinical outcomes through the integration of medical simulation-based education for all resident physicians, clinical staff, HCA-affiliated hospitals and community groups served by the Mercer University School of Medicine and Grand Strand Health.”

With the guidance of the residency program leadership, our simulation center has built a comprehensive simulation curriculum across all residency programs with the intent of improving the resident’s competencies and efficiency in the clinical learning environment.

Our curriculum uses multiple simulation modalities and a variety of simulation cases; each case is designed with core competencies in mind. Each simulation scenario is followed by a small group debriefing session; wherein participants analyze their actions and reflect on their thought process.

Program faculty for simulation sessions are chosen specifically for the strength of their teaching skills and all have completed training in the use of simulation for medical education.

We utilize simulation to:

• Provide a realistic, effective, and efficient environment for teaching, learning, assessment, and research
• Incorporate evidence-based practice
• Provide a learning environment that promotes the development of clinical judgment and reasoning with the goal of delivering high-quality, safe patient care
• Provide a safe learning experience for all residents, faculty, and staff
• Ensure that competency-based methods of assessment and evaluation are used to assist students in understanding their level of acquisition in the simulation environment
• Promote team development by incorporating multidisciplinary educational experiences focused on effective communication between practitioners and safe transitions of care
• Provide participants with clearly written objectives that are available prior to the experience
• Provide simulation-based education that corresponds to the participant's knowledge level and experience

We currently offer:

• SimMan Essentia/3G: a full-bodied, high-fidelity wireless patient simulator for all simulated clinical experience
• USMentor: a full-head and torso, mid-fidelity patient ultrasound and anatomy simulator
• Simulaid: a full-bodied, mid-fidelity patient simulator
• Trauma Manikin: a full-bodied, low-fidelity manikin
• Various Task Trainers used for procedure skills training
• FLS Surgical Simulator
• da Vinci Skills Simulator

Current examples of simulation cases and procedures:

• Abscess incision and drainage
• ACLS mock code
• ACS/NSEMI
• Acute abdomen
• Acute GI bleed
• Acute hypoxic respiratory failure
• Airway management
• Anaphylaxis
• Asepsis and instrument identification
• Atrial fibrillation with RVR
• Basic dermatological biopsy
• Basic laparoscopy skills
• Bursal injection
• Central line insertion and arterial lines
• Central venous catheter (internal jugular, subclavian)
• Chest tube and thoracentesis
• DKA
• Hypertensive emergency
• Joint aspiration
• Knee injection
• Knot tying
• Laparoscopy skills
• Lumbar puncture
• Opioid overdose
• Paracentesis
• Pneumothorax
• Seizure
• Sepsis
• Shoulder injection
• Suturing
• Transfusion reaction
• Urethral and suprapubic catheterization
• Team-based training
• Thoracentesis
• Trauma simulations

Transitional Year simulation curriculum

During your Transitional Year, the Simulation Curriculum will vary based upon each resident group’s needs assessment. Transitional year residents are able to tailor their simulation experiences based upon their individual clinical and research interests. Residents attend six simulation sessions throughout the intern year. Opportunities for scholarly activity in simulation also exist at our institution.