Clinical Experience

The clinical experiences at UCSD/Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego (RCHSD) exposes Fellows to an unparalleled diversity in pathophsysiology. RCHSD is the largest children’s hospital in California (3rd largest in the US) and the only Pediatric hospital in the area, providing care for a diverse population of over 4 million people in the 5th largest county and 8th largest city in the United States. The patient population is extremely diverse with a near majority Hispanic population, three generations of Southeast Asian immigrant populations, and recent east African refugee populations; spanning a broad socioeconomic spectrum. The program’s catchment area extends north to Riverside/Orange Counties, south across the Mexico border (the busiest international border in the world), east to western Arizona, and west to the Pacific islands. Within this large geographic area, essentially all children with infectious diseases are cared for by the Pediatric Infectious Disease service at UCSD/RCHSD. As a result, Pediatric Infectious Disease Fellows are exposed to both “bread and butter” and “zebra” infectious processes on a daily basis and are comfortable managing children with both high acuity and chronic infectious diseases.

Inpatient Clinical Experience

Fellow Year	Inpatient Blocks	Notes
First Year	6 Clinical Blocks: (1) 4-week block, then (10) x 2-week blocks	General Infectious Diseases Service: 4 week block: 2 weekends 2 week block: 1 weekend Non-inpatient block: 1 weekend
Second Year	3 Blocks: (6) x 2-week blocks	General or Immunocompromised Infectious Diseases Services
Third Year	3 Blocks: (6) x 2-week blocks	General or Immunocompromised Infectious Diseases Services

KD rounds on immunocompromised ID service
Weekend inpatient services are combined
ID service typically has one to two PL 2-4 residents, +/-MS4 student & pharmacy resident
Fellow runs the service as appropriate, leads clinical rounds, triages consults to the team, and sees existing patients/new consults. Pager call taken with attending.
Third year fellow functions as a junior attending (aka “pre-tending”) when on service
4 weeks vacation per year
1 week CME per year (IDSA, PIDS/St. Jude, SHEA, etc.)

Outpatient Clinical Experience

Microbiology Month:

- Block #1 first year of fellowship
- Call free, no weekends
- 2 weeks each at UCSD and RCHSD Microbiology Labs
- Afternoons shadowing inpatient or outpatient services

Outpatient ID Clinic:

Half day per week when not on inpatient service
- mix of new patients and follow-up from inpatient
May include time in the elective clinics listed below

Elective Clinical Experiences

Local Clinical Experiences:

ID Travel Clinic (Balboa)
HIV Clinic (UCSD)
Vaccine Clinic (Community)
STD Clinic (Community)
TB Clinic (Public Health)
Public Health (SD)
Refugee Intake Clinic (Catholic Charities)
Immunology Clinic (RCHSD)
Periodic Fever Clinic (RCHSD)
KD Clinic (RCHSD)
Indian Health Services (Community)
Adult Infectious Disease Experiences (UCSD)
Infection Control Rounds (RCHSD)
Antimicrobial Stewardship Rounds (RCHSD)

Global Health Experience

Think Globally, Act Locally: Local global health experience (2 week elective)
Pediatric Infectious Disease Services in Tijuana (Clinic/HIV/Inpatient)
Monthly Pediatric Free Clinic in Tijuana, Mexico
International Morning Report
International sites (1 month elective):
- Guadalajara or Tijuana, Mexico
- Other sites (e.g. Saipan, Uganda, China, etc.)