University of Rochester Medical Center
Rotation Name: PED610 Pediatric Developmental Disabilities
Elective Location: University of Rochester Medical Center Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, including Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics Clinic, as well as visiting community agencies
Duration: 2 weeks or 4 weeks
Course Coordinator: Carolyn King, Carolyn_King@urmc.rochester.edu
Faculty: Abigail L.H. Kroening M.D.
Course Description: The goal is to familiarize students with typical and atypical child development through clinical experiences, small-group and media-based teaching/learning opportunities, and community-based site experiences, when possible. It is our hope that students will appreciate the role of play in developmental diagnostic evaluations, as well as the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration (with health and community professionals) in supporting a child with disabilities and their family. Students will learn more about autism, intellectual disability, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy, and other developmental and behavioral diagnoses. Students will also learn more about supporting children/youth with co-occurring conditions (such as sleep, eating, or behavior support needs), educational advocacy within early intervention and special education systems, and community services and their coordination. Students will learn about the impact of implicit ableism as contributing to health inequities experienced by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). All of this will be presented within a person-and-family centered framework, with attention to social and structural determinants of health and recognition of the importance of partnership with people with IDD and their support network.
Learning Objectives:
Use play to understand different domains of development (language, motor, cognitive, social-emotional, adaptive).
Participate in an interdisciplinary diagnostic evaluation for a child with a developmental disability.
Describe the roles of other interdisciplinary team professionals (including psychologist, educator, nurse, social worker, speech pathologist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, audiologist, and nutritionist) in the care and support of a child with a developmental disability.
List differential diagnoses for language delay, intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorders, attention deficits, and motor disability in children and youth.
Participate in the process of care coordination for an individual with complex developmental disability.
Learn firsthand from a Family Experience what life is like for a family when disability is a part of the dynamic and understand how implicit ableism within structures and systems impacts a child/family day-to-day and within health care experiences.
Describe conditions that commonly co-occur with developmental disabilities.
Understand and discuss appropriate use of pharmacologic agents such as psychostimulants, alpha adrenergic agents, atypical antipsychotics, and other medications used in the care of children with developmental disabilities.
Understand how structural and social determinants of health impact early childhood development and developmental trajectories.
Eligibility: Open to visiting students in their final year of their academic curriculum in good academic standing from an LCME accredited medical school or osteopathic school in the U.S. or Canada; Only students attending an international medical school with which the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (URSMD) has a formal exchange agreement will be considered for elective experiences.