Medical Student Experiences at Driscoll
3rd Year Medical Student Rotations
At Driscoll Children’s Hospital, our primary commitment is to provide a supportive learning environment where you can gain hands-on experience with a wide range of pediatric conditions. You will engage with patients and their families, primary care physicians, attending physicians, residents, nurses, and various ancillary services. Students will have the opportunity to participate in clinical activities across both general and subspecialty inpatient services, with a strong emphasis on fundamental pediatric issues and common illnesses.
We encourage students to develop independent learning skills, demonstrate enthusiasm and self-motivation, and embrace teamwork—key qualities essential for providing exceptional care to our patients. Throughout your rotation, you will benefit from one-on-one mentoring with attending physicians and have exposure to multiple faculty members. Additionally, our pediatric residents will serve as instructors at times, offering valuable guidance. Your experience will vary depending on the unit you are assigned to, ensuring a diverse and well-rounded clinical education.
4th Year Medical Student Rotations
What standard rotations are available to select from:
- Sub-Internship
- Pediatric Inpatient
- Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
- Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
- Emergency Medicine
- Subspecialties (upon Faculty approval)
- Cardiology
- Pulmonology
- Endocrinology
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Infectious Disease
- Gastroenterology
- Surgical
- General Surgery
- Craniofacial, Cleft and Plastic Surgery
- Orthopedics
Sub-I Rotation
- During the students’ four-week sub-internship, they will demonstrate pediatric intern level knowledge, professionalism and skills. There are three options for sub-internship – Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM), Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) or Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
- For PHM, the student will be assigned to one of three teams, consisting of 1 attending, 1-2 senior residents, 2 interns and 3-4 third year medical students. For PICU For NICU need Dr. Kleppe to confirm (ask Gilda)
- During interdisciplinary rounds, you will also encounter charge nurse, bedside nurses, case management, social work, behavioral health team, pharmacy and other sub-specialists. The sub-I admits/follows/discharges patients, evaluates all medical problems and formulates assessments and plans under supervision of senior resident. They are responsible as the primary provider for a minimum of three patients. As the primary provider for the patient, they are responsible for: giving/receiving handoffs at the beginning and ending of shifts, requesting consultation as needed, writing orders for co-signature prior to implementation (only on PHM sub-I) and performing all aspects of patient care. Attendance at educational conference is also required.
Skills Lab
- All 4th year medical students doing a Sub-I elective will also participate in a skills lab
- The skills lab provides a dedicated training environment where you can practice essential clinical skills on simulated patients allowing you to hone your abilities in various procedures. You will be closely monitored by faculty and residents where you will receive immediate feedback during the exercise. Following the lab there will be a debrief session to identify areas of improvement and discuss your performance
- Skills practiced: IV/IO line placement, Incision and drainage of a wound, lumbar puncture
VSLO
- Driscoll Children’s Hospital accepts Visiting Student applications through the Visiting Student Learning Opportunities (VSLO) platform
- You can find Driscoll Children’s Hospital in VSLO under TX A&M Driscoll Children’s
Resident Didactics
- Morning Report: 7:30-8AM Resident Conference Room
- Noon Conference: 12:30 – 1:15 PM Daily Resident Conference Room
- Grand Rounds: 12:30 Every Friday via Teams in the Resident Conference Room
- Journal Club: Second Tuesday of the month in place of Noon Conference
- Mortality and Morbidity: Dates vary – in place of noon conference
- Housestaff Meeting: Last Wednesday of the month in place of Noon Conference – Medical students are excused from this meeting
Housing
- Driscoll Children’s Hospital offers housing to medical students applying to our Residency Program on an individual basis. Housing is limited to availability. The fully furnished house has four bedrooms and is located adjacent to the hospital. Room sharing is an option. Housing is not gender specific.
Scholarly Work
Medical Student Case Report Competition
Below are Instructions and Guidelines for those interested in participating in our 1st Annual Case Report Competition. Case Reports will be selected in a peer review process for oral presentation at the Driscoll Children’s Hospital (DCH) Annual Pediatric Conference as a main session. Hotel rooms at the Omni will be paid for by Driscoll Children’s Hospital to the winning submissions for two nights.
The presentations will be held at Driscoll’s 32nd Annual Pediatric Conference on July 25 - 26, 2025 at the Omni Corpus Christi Hotel (909 North Shoreline Blvd, Corpus Christi, TX 78401).
- Requirements:
- Lead Authors should only submit their work if they can be present during the conference dates of July 25-26, 2025
- Lead authors/presenters are responsible for collecting and communicating information to co-authors/presenters
- If submission is accepted for presentation, the lead author must:
- Complete disclosure forms for all co-authors
- Register for the conference to present the work
- Case report submission fee will cover the cost of registration/ attendance at the conference
- Submit finalized posters or presentation slides by the required deadline
- Review and Notification Information
- Presentation format will be communicated in the acceptance notifications
| Important dates to remember | Date |
|---|
| Case report submissions open | Thursday, May 1, 2025 |
| Case report submissions close | Monday, May 19, 2025 |
| Acceptance Notifications to be Sent | Friday, June 13, 2025 |
| RSVP Deadline to Participate | Friday, June 27, 2025 |
| Presentation Scheduling to be Sent | Monday, July 7, 2025 |
- Submission Information
- Deadline for case report submission is 11:59 PM CST on Monday, May 19, 2025
- Submissions are limited to 2,600 characters or less, including spaces. The title is excluded from this count. It is strongly recommended that you draft your case report using Word or a similar product
- No PHI. Please do not identify yourself, co-authors or information anywhere in the body of the case report.
Your submission will be blinded for review and shouldn’t include any identifying information
- Maximum number of authors is five
Submission requirements - Title: Please do not disclose the final diagnosis (or significant clue) in the title
- Initial History/Presentation: provide information about the initial history taken or the presentation of the patient when they were first seen
- Physical Exam: Provide information about physical exam conducted relevant to your case report. Include vital signs if relevant
- Diagnostic Evaluation: Provide results of any tests, procedures or imaging conducted on patient
- Diagnosis: Provide description of the diagnosis made as a result of your exam and evaluation
- Discussion/Conclusion: Provide a brief summary of your interpretations and conclusions
- File upload (optional): one PDF file may be uploaded including images/charts pertinent to the submission. Total number of image/charts should NOT exceed three
Additional Submission Information - Individual submitting the case report will be considered the lead author and sole presenter
- Only one person may present the case report, although a maximum of four additional authors may be listed
- Case reports can be edited until the point of final submission. Case reports cannot be edited following final submission
- Works in progress (without final conclusive diagnosis) and topics without relevance to pediatrics will not be accepted as case reports
Note: Driscoll Children’s Hospital does NOT offer International Medical Student Rotations.
Contact Information
For medical student program information, please email Dedie Rosales, Medical Student Coordinator, at
[email protected].
