Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore, MD

[ducman]

Sheppard Pratt Health System, Baltimore, MD

[ancylostoma]

Can anyone tell us about this clinical site?

[amyames]

I have nothing but good things to say about my experience at Sheppard Pratt. I just finished the rotation last week and really enjoyed the experience.

It was my first rotation so the attending and resident were really nice to me and let me ease into the rotation. Thus, during the first few weeks I was simply pre-rounding, obtaining patients for the daily meetings, faxing off documents, getting patient consents, and learning the psych lingo. The last two weeks, I was writing daily SOAP notes, and interviewing the new admits and my patients with the attending, resident, and social worker present. It was a well-rounded rotation and I couldn't be happier.

What about the schedule you ask? Well, daily meetings in which the residents would discuss their nights on call would start at 8am. Students were not required to be there, but all the students showed for the meeting. I would sometimes show up at 7:30 to start pre-rounding early, but eventually I just came at 8am because the vitals weren't up till after 8am anyway. Yah, the nursing staff did the vitals and uploaded the data to the computer.
The student coordinator said we had to stay till 4pm, but there are some days that I did leave early because the resident and attending would tell me to do so. Of course, being a good student, I would always ask if there was anything else I could do, but if there wasn't, I sometimes headed home at 2:30pm.

Every Monday we had free lunch from the drug reps, but that has since stopped, and every Tuesday we had a lecture series from one of the attendings, and then on some Wednesdays we would have grand rounds (another opportunity for free lunch!!). I really liked how the teaching was intergrated into the schedule and I learned a lot on the rotation.

If anyone has more detailed questions about the rotation feel free to PM me. But bottom line? I would recommend this rotation to anyone....now let's see how the psych shelf goes next week!

[Twix]

Thanks for the info amyames. Any chance you can give some feedback to the following questions:
1. What would you do differently if you were to do it again?
2. What did they expect you to know on day 1?
3. How many students do you rotate with at any one time?
4. Any books that I should read to better prepare?
5. What was the evaluation like at the end?
6. Was there any free accommodation?

Thanks in advance. Any other bits of information would be much appreciated.:)

Twix

[amyames]

1. What would you do differently if you were to do it again?
I would have studied psych terms beforehand. often times residents and attendings would use psych terms and forget that you were a medical student. it helps to know terms such as blunt, labile, ect. and look at template psych soap notes though it's resident dependent if you write psych notes. still, it never hurts to have a heads up before you start the rotation.
2. What did they expect you to know on day 1?
I was honest and told my resident and attending that I had just passed step 1 two weeks prior and that this was my first rotation, so they gave me lots of slack the first two weeks!. although, ha ha, they did ask me some medicine questions because I'd just passed step so they thought they'd ask me first to see what i remembered! if that hadn't been the case, my resident said he would have expected me to be up to date on the pysch terms, know how to conduct a mini mental exam, and also have a rough idea of how to conduct a psych interview. residents and attendings all have their own style of interviewing, so it's good to ask them how they like things to be asked, and then adapt your style to their preferences.
3. How many students do you rotate with at any one time?
at sheppard saba students rotate with SMU, St. Martinus students, and PCOM students. on my unit, I rotated with one St. Martinus student, and one PCOM student. another student was put on the child unit. each student was assigned one resident and one attending. the resident is the one who gives you a grade for the rotation, although you can ask the attending to write you one.
4. Any books that I should read to better prepare?
-kaplan psych
-first aid for psych (NOT THE first aid for step 2 ck, the first aid for psych is a separate book altogether)
-current clinical stratergies in psych 2008. clinical stratergies in psych is the best book..it's only 13 bucks and has everything you need in it!!!!!! i can't say enough good things about this book. absolutely loved it. a must must must buy.
-also, boards and wards isn't bad..it's small enough to stick into your white coat as well although at sheppard you didn't have to wear a white coat if you didn't want to, just needed to wear business casual clothes.
5. What was the evaluation like at the end?
i don't know. i waived my right to see the evaluation.

and there is no free housing though the student coordinator is excellent and gives you good leads. i stayed at the carlyle apartments on west university (located within the johns hopkins homewood campus) which was about six miles from the hospital. they do temporary leases but it was expensive, about $1300/month for a furnished apartment. however, i had everything..even washer and dryer and free internet so i guess 1300 a month wasn't that bad.

Thanks in advance. Any other bits of information would be much appreciated.:)

Twix[/quote]

[Twix]

Thanks for the great advice, amyames.;) Very helpful. I will definitely go and take a look at the psych book that you recommended. Also looks like I will spend some of the festive period brushing up on the many psych terms I have forgotten.

Cheers,

Twix

[kah461]

Overall Rating of SPH = A
Facilities = A
Overall Experience = A
Off Campus Housing = A (Lived in Cardiff Hall on York Road(less than 2 miles from SPH). Rent = $600 (Shared a 2BD/2BR Apt with a Towson Univ. Student).

Teaching = A

Patient Experience = A

Intern/ Resident Experience = A

Attending Experience = A-

I would strongly recommend to do rotation at SPH.

[SurgeonIn2Years]

Is this rotation "Green book" ?

[wolfvgang22]

It should be greenbook, sheppard pratt is actually one of the best psych residencies in the U.S.