Acting Internships

SLU students are scheduled for one acting internships through the anchor lottery. They can add additional acting internships after the lottery.

Remaining AI spots are offered to SLU and visiting students on rolling basis. We encourage students to secure AI spots early. There is site overlap between general inpatient acting internship and hospital pediatrics elective as well as NICU acting internship and exploring neonatology. While we give preference to AI students, we do not “bump” elective students due to late AI requests.

We ask M4 students to plan their AI schedule. Things to consider

• • • Life events (Eg. family celebrations)

    • Letters of recommendations

      • • • Floor AI includes 4 night shifts. If students have a team attendings "penciled in" as a potential LOR writer we recommend they stay on days during the attending's week and maximize shared time which might include working one or both weekend days. (attendings scheduled for 7d with orange having a Monday and purple a Saturday start). During the block of nights, while students primarily admit patient to their own team, they also assist with admissions to other teams and other clinical tasks. Students have one of the "opposite" team attendings penciled in as a LOR writer, might request to do nights during the week s/he is on. (See Learners on Pediatrics)

          • NICU CG has 3 teams/attendings on at a time (amion.com/cgch). AIs have an opportunity to request teams

    • Schedule of the other AI (floor AIs). We ask the two floor AIs to not work on the same nights

    • Intern academic half day (Every other Thursday 1-4PM, see calendar). All M4s are strongly encouraged to attend. This is not a strong recommendation for SLU students as they will have plenty of opportunities to attend during other months. It is a stronger recommendation for visiting students.

    • M3 schedule (floor AIs) (see calendar). M3s are away at predictable times for ACS, academic half days, OSCE, NBME study day and exam (final clerkship week). M4s might consider being around during those days (1) fewer hands available to help (2) opportunity to be more visible and shine brighter with fewer learners around.

    • Last Sunday. We recommend M4's take the last Sunday of the rotation off especially if starting a direct patient care rotation on Monday. An exception might be if your LOR happens to be working that Sunday.

    • Be flexible whenever possible. The senior resident and/or course directors will likely have suggestions regarding students' schedule based on insight into the schedule of other team members: days residents are in clinic or off, days NPs or fellows are off, etc.

Students should reach out to the senior resident/s (floors) or course directors (NICU, PICU) to discuss and finalize the schedule. We recommend students do this early and specify strong requests (Eg. needing to be off on this specific weekend for a family event; really wanting to be on days vs. nights during week 2 due to LOR).

Once the schedule is finalized, we ask students to use the Learners on Pediatrics Spreadsheet "insert comment" feature to designate days off (total of 5), night shifts (floors), as well as call nights (4 NICU; 5 PICU)

Night Responsibilities included with all acting internships

• Floor acting interns are asked to do 4 night shifts (new for class of '22; ongoing changes)

  • • Three 13 hour shift: 5:30PM-6:30AM (matching night resident schedule)

    • One 17 hour shift: 5:30PM-10:30am (staying through rounds on last day)

    • At least one day off

    • The change is still a work in progress. We welcome your feedback!

• NICU, and PICU AIs take call

Call rooms

• St Mary’s: NICU, behind the physician work area

• Cardinal Glennon

  • 2135 (2S) is the designated floor Acting Intern call room. It has a bunk bed. Code 135#

    • • Environmental services sometimes forgets to change sheets. It is a problem we have addressed. We still recommend you check the room on your call day jut in case. IF sheets are not changed, call EVS and our office know

      • Computer prints to the resident lounge.

      • Other services have been using the room, which is fine during the months or nights when we have no floor AIs. AIs have priority for the room. Please contact our office if you run into issues.

  • 3225 (TCU next to red team conference room) are two resident call rooms with single beds. At times, Eg. more than one AI scheduled during a night, students might be able to use the resident call room. Please check with the night team first.

  • PICU resident call room that the residents don’t often use. Check with the resident if you can take the resident room.

Post long night shift (floors) or post-call days. The team will work to have you finish clinical duties as soon as possible

• • Floor teams. You will round with the team just on your last night shift. Typically you will "table round" on your general pediatric patients first. You will then be able to break off to finish up notes and other tasks and rejoin the team for nephrology or GI rounds when again the team will round on your patients first.

  • NICU, PICU. The team will typically round on your patients first with goal of completing work before noon. Many AI’s choose to take their post-post call day off.

Inpatient Skills

Medical documentation

ASCOM 101

Site overview for the specific AI

As always, we suggest AIs touch base with any outgoing learners (See Learners on Pediatrics)

As in all courses, final grades and narrative summaries are finalized by the course directors.

Floor AI

• Individual student performance evaluations including final grade recommendations are assigned to all faculty, fellows, and senior resident/s the AI is scheduled to work with. Supervising physicians designated to complete the evaluation are expected to do so based on their own experience as well as feedback form the team. We also take into account any comments submitted through the rapid coaching form as well as any additional feedback we might have gotten (Eg. comments from the "opposite" (orange or purple) or yellow team attendings you might have admitted patients to.

• The course director use these evaluations +/- her own experience working with you during the AI to assign the final grade.

NICU AI’s

• Individual student performance evaluations including final grade recommendations are assigned to all faculty and fellows the AI is scheduled to work with. Supervising physicians designated to complete the evaluation are expected to do so based on their own experience as well as feedback form the team.

• The course directors use these evaluations +/- their own experience working with you during the AI to assign the final grade.

PICU AI

• Dr. Chiwane completes the final evaluation based on feedback from the team +/- his own experience with the student

Aim to obtain at least one LOR from your acting internship (NOT having a letter from an AI would be a bit of a red flag)

Get both your life (groceries, laundry, errands, etc) and ERAS application as “tucked in” as possible. Your AI is definitely NOT the the month to work on your ERAS or heavily research residency programs

During your acting internship month, you are welcomed to use the resident lounge

Solicit feedback at least weekly, “This is my acting internship and my first exposure to what it feels like to be a resident. Do you have suggestions on how I can better fulfill the role of the intern on our team?”