Electronic Medical Records (Med-Peds Programs)

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

WhatUpDoc!

The Sign Says It All
15+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2005
Messages
788
Reaction score
16
Hey guys, I'm at the end of my third year and will be applying for the 2010 cycle (in Med-Peds). One thing that has royally pissed me off thus far in my clinical experiences is illegible consult notes or illegible writing in general that makes it hard for me to follow what someone has written about my patient. I swear there are at least 5-6 attendings that I want to drop kick on each rotation because they write some chicken scratch and then I'm scrambling around trying to find a resident who may have talked with "Dr. chicken-scratch writer" and knows what the plan is. Well, for this reason and many others I don't feel like going into, my main screening criteria for choosing a residency program is whether or not there is fully functional EMRs (aka. NO CHARTS ON PAPER!!!) at their hospitals. Does anyone happen to know if programs like this exist for Med-Peds. I heard in passing that U of Cinn uses EMRs, but if anyone has been on interviews and could compile a list, that would be much appreciated. Thanks

Members don't see this ad.
 
Vanderbilt has a state of the art Electronic Medical Record that is the same for both the adult and pediatric hospitals. We have a very active Bio-informatics Department that has developed this system. Also be aware that some programs technically have EMRs, but daily notes are written.

This is a great question and one that would be helpful to other MedPeds applicants.


Be aware that some Med-Peds programs involve separate adult and pediatric hospitals which use different record systems.
 
EMR is great, but not a cure-all. You will soon discover the downside of EMR- macro-generated notes that are a mile long, containing every med, lab value and imaging from eons ago, with almost no substance whatsoever. The cut and paste garbage you will have to sift through to find useful information is almost as bad as illegible handwriting.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
EMR is great, but not a cure-all. You will soon discover the downside of EMR- macro-generated notes that are a mile long, containing every med, lab value and imaging from eons ago, with almost no substance whatsoever. The cut and paste garbage you will have to sift through to find useful information is almost as bad as illegible handwriting.

Yeah, well the system at the local VA was giving me the same hang-ups until I figured out how to set date ranges and customize what I wanted to put in my notes everyday (i.e. vitals, labs, imaging if available). After making the ultimate template, I would plow through a good 4-5 progress notes in less than 10 minutes. H&Ps were a cinch with my personal ROS checkboxes! I don't know how other programs are designed to handle EMRs, but the VA system is actually a little archaic (in terms of user interface), and I still loved it over the paper trail. So, I'll take the macro generated notes all day as long as I can modify it accordingly :D
 
Last edited:
Vanderbilt has a state of the art Electronic Medical Record that is the same for both the adult and pediatric hospitals. We have a very active Bio-informatics Department that has developed this system. Also be aware that some programs technically have EMRs, but daily notes are written.

This is a great question and one that would be helpful to other MedPeds applicants.


Be aware that some Med-Peds programs involve separate adult and pediatric hospitals which use different record systems.

Thanks for the reply. I may have to schedule a 4th year elective there to check out the system, and less than a 3 hour drive away = bonus :thumbup:
 
Hey guys,

Duke's EMR was brought over from Vanderbilt and it has made being a med student so great here. I am leaving Duke next year, and will DEFINITELY miss the electronic medical record and CPOE.
 
Top