Elective Course Description
In this elective, medical students will be encouraged to actively participate in all of the activities of the Pediatric Surgical Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Students will scrub in to the operating room and participate in daily rounds and conferences. Emphasis will be placed on the pretreatment evaluation of patients, the available modalities of therapy, and the principles by which a choice of treatment is ultimately made. Attendance at the Pediatric Surgical Treatment Planning Conference (Tuesdays 7:30 am), Pediatric Surgery Journal Club (Tuesdays 8:30 am), Pediatric Tumor Board (Tuesdays 2pm), Surgical Grand Rounds (Mondays 8 am) and the Surgical Oncology Conference (Wednesdays 7 am) is mandatory. Students who are so inclined will have the opportunity to undertake a clinical research project.
Learning Objectives
- Demonstrate the ability to obtain and present a basic pediatric patient history for common pediatric surgical oncology diseases of infants and children.
- Students will be exposed to the examination and evaluation of pediatric patients with cancer.
- Students learn how to work in a multidisciplinary setting with surgeons, radiation oncologists, radiologists and pathologists to diagnose and treat newly diagnosed children with cancer.
- Students will observe the surgical management of small children and infants and become familiar with various surgical procedures and know their expected outcomes and complications.
- Explain and interpret the medical literature pertinent to specific issues in pediatric oncology.
Suggested Literature
Students should search the pediatric modules at the Physician Data Query published by the National Cancer Institute. (https://www.cancer.gov/publications/pdq). Students should read the modules on neuroblastoma, Wilms tumor, rhabdomyosarcoma, and rare pediatric tumors.
