Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is excited to host pediatric emergency medicine fellows from multiple fellowship programs to participate in our annual clinical skills Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) fellowship bootcamp!

The pediatric emergency medicine fellowship bootcamp represents a collaborative effort among multiple institutions to provide first year PEM fellows with an introduction to high acuity clinical situations and procedural skills at the onset of their training. Through a combination of didactic lectures, hands-on procedural skill workshops and simulated patient scenarios, fellows will develop the knowledge and skills necessary to:

  • Recognize and manage critically ill or injured children
  • Perform basic and life-saving procedures
  • Demonstrate teamwork and leadership skills

This bootcamp is a two and a half day course designed to give first year PEM fellows an introduction to key emergency clinical experiences and procedures early in fellowship training. The course focuses on airway management skills, recognizing and managing life-threatening illness and evaluating and managing traumatically injured children, through simulated patient scenarios and procedure labs. We also have sessions dedicated to the management of orthopedic injuries, basic ultrasound skills and career planning designed for new fellows.

The PEM Bootcamp features instruction by PEM faculty from multiple participating academic institutions, as well as faculty from Adult Emergency Medicine, Pediatric Trauma, Pediatric Critical Care and Pediatric Anesthesia.

What fellows have to say …

Truly excellent, as much for social and meeting colleagues from different programs as for excellent knowledge/skills foundation. Very nice to have front-loaded exposure to relevant issues.

So many good things to say. The WashU staff and program were extremely generous with their time and energy. The program was well organized and administrated, and participants were kept busy. The snacks and caffeine and meals were excellent. Great to meet other fellows in this environment.

I feel very lucky to have been invited to participate in this bootcamp. The other fellows whose years were not included have expressed their wish to attend a similar bootcamp. I feel more confident in the skills and knowledge I already had, and have more knowledge and skills in the areas that I felt were gaps for me. The day after I came home I was able to walk my attending through my thoughts on a medical trauma in a way that felt different to me – I felt more confident in my assessment and plan, and my ability to communicate that to others. I really appreciate all the effort that was obviously put forth to make this experience such a success.

This was a very valuable learning experience and should be incorporated into all PEDS ER training.

One of the most useful medical courses I have been to.

This was fantastic! I learned a lot and feel much more comfortable with certain procedures and traumas.

Bootcamp was a great experience. Content was on point with a good mix of didactics and skills development.

Great experiences overall, useful lectures and good simulation cases.

Very educational. Would recommend to anyone.

I was most impressed with the depth of content. Because we all had different backgrounds and experiences, the content has to start at the most basic level. However, there was so much nuance and expert opinions there that it was still wonderfully educational.

Overall I can tell a lot of planning and organization went into the itinerary for the bootcamp because it flowed so well. Never did I feel that something was dragging on for too long. The lectures were among the best I have seen. Faculty and staff were patient, knowledgeable and wonderful teachers!

Bootcamp was an awesome experience! I really liked the mix of lectures and hands-on work. The lecturers and instructors at skill workshops were all so friendly, intelligent, and open to teaching and answering questions to ensure understanding. I think while intimidating at first, it was an awesome experience to do so many SIMS in a day with our groups, the realistic and raw nature of the cases and the teaching points, and to later discuss the management and leadership skills. Lastly, it was fun to get to know PEM fellows at various programs and build relationships that will hopefully remain during our careers.

Overall I thought the Bootcamp was an invaluable experience and the curriculum was very streamlined and high-yield for first year fellows. I feel the procedure lab was one of the most useful exercises at Bootcamp and familiarized us with skills that we so seldom get to practice in a real ED setting this early on in training.

2020 PEM bootcamp slideshow