Specialty Rotations

Specialty rotations serve as an opportunity to expand a resident’s learning experience beyond the scope of their practice. These rotations provide a way to educate the medical community on the field of podiatry. In general, specialty rotations overlap and expand the resident’s knowledge of principles such as:

1. Development of a decision-making process for choosing appropriate, cost-effective and timely diagnostic imaging and laboratory testing and recognizing both normal and abnormal findings
2. Drug ordering and drug management, including knowledge of dosing, toxicity and side effects
3. Patient safety measures that include both house-wide drug regimens as well as other applicable regulatory compliance measures
4. Appropriate use of consultations and referrals for a range of patient disorders
5. Knowledge of therapeutic and prophylactic antibiotics management in a number of settings

Rotation Highlights

Residents can anticipate well-rounded, medical experiences during their specialty rotations at SSM Health DePaul Hospital. They will work in all areas of the hospital to help them better understand podiatry and how it interacts with other hospital departments. Below are the specialty rotations residents will take part in and what experiences they can expect to gain from them.

Anesthesia Rotation

Through this rotation, residents should obtain an increased understanding and use of local, general, epidural, spinal and regional anesthesia and conscious sedation as well as treatment of complications. They will focus on the use of nerve blocks for foot and ankles to achieve either partial or complete anesthesia and ascertain pre-operative testing requirements, including appropriate lab, EKG and chest X-ray. Residents also will learn about proper ordering and utilization of PCA and other forms of pain control.

Internal Medicine Rotation

In addition to gaining assessment skills for obtaining a comprehensive medical history and physical exam residents in this rotation will learn appropriate patient care. They will become familiar with common medical conditions and their potential implications for surgical patients, utilize management of acid/base imbalance through the use of arterial blood gas analysis and focus on EKG interpretation.

Infectious Disease Rotation

During this rotation, residents gain experience in the management and treatment of patients with a wide range of infectious diseases, including patients with fevers of unknown origins, and focus on making appropriate antibiotic choices. They also learn about the use of appropriate antibiotic therapy for postoperative patients who have undergone incision and drainage for a bone or soft tissue infection and identification of common infectious processes, and knowledge of their potential implications for surgical patients

Emergency Medicine Rotation

The emergency medicine rotation teaches residents the management of soft tissue foot wounds, such as lacerations and infections and provides residents with the ability to perform the basic triage of a patient and identify medical or surgical interventions. They will focus on the treatment of musculoskeletal traumas of the foot and ankle, and the initiation of appropriate tetanus prophylaxis and treatment.

Behavioral Health Rotation

This rotation provides residents experience in working with all types of behavioral health problems, especially for patients who exhibit depression or manic-depressive disorders. They also learn about the identification and management of patients who may have issues adhering to treatment.

General Surgery Rotation

Residents will gain an enhanced understanding of operating room technique, surgical procedures, and development of surgical assisting skills. They will obtain knowledge of invasive and non-invasive vascular testing and focus on vascular management of patients with thromboembolic treatment, limb-saving vascular procedures and various amputation levels and techniques. They will also learn how to better identify patients who are a surgical risk and learn the necessary precautions to take.

Foot & Ankle Orthopedics Rotation

During this rotation, residents obtain a better comprehension of the practice of orthopedic surgeons in their management of foot, ankle and lower leg disorders in respect to conservative treatment and surgical correction.

Radiology Rotation

Through this rotation, residents will focus on the use of CT scans, MRIs and ultrasounds and radiology specialty procedures. They will gain an understanding of normal and abnormal radiology of the entire body with a focus on musculoskeletal imaging.

Pathology Rotation

In this rotation residents will select appropriate pathology tests and use appropriate specimen procurement method in their collection. They will use histologic interpretation of common podiatric pathology.

Wound Care Rotation

Residents will evaluate and manage wounds and wound-related complications commonly seen in the course of general medical and surgical practices. The focus will be on understanding the pathophysiology of wound healing and covering such topics as risk factors, wound debridement, appropriate indications for hyperbaric therapy, wound dressings, and infection prevention and treatment.

Neurology Rotation

This rotation will allow residents to participate in the evaluation and management of neurological disorders with specific focus on the pathogenesis of neurological disorders with lower extremity manifestations.