PAS-545: Clinical Skills I

This is the first of a two-semester course designed to help students develop clinical and procedural skills common to office and emergency department settings. Students will receive instruction in lumbar puncture, slit lamp evaluation, insertion of nasogastric and urinary catheters, interpretation of images obtained by x-ray, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging), examination of the neurologic system, special orthopedic examination techniques, joint injection/aspiration, and interpretation of cardiac rhythm strips and 12-lead electrocardiographs. Students will have an opportunity to practice learned skills during laboratory sessions. Additionally, students will have an opportunity to practice previously learned skills of airway management, venipuncture, and peripheral venous access during open laboratory sessions. Students will build on their clinical assessment and documentation skills learned in PAS 520 and PAS 521, Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) skills through OSCEs and 3-D mannequin simulations. In addition, students will complete the Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) course.