- To admit new patients.
- To assist in the evaluation and management of patients on the service
Admitting
You should admit a patient every time you are on call, or more often. This involves performing a complete history and physical examination, writing the admission note, writing admission orders, and writing a write-up for the tutor. You should not wait for a "good case"; instead, you can get started with patients as they are admitted, and the choose one of them for your write-up. You should admit a new patient whenever your “census” falls short of the goals above.
Patient evaluation and management
If a patient on your team develops a problem while you are on call, you will often be the first to evaluate the patient. If the patient is severely ill, you will evaluate the patient together with the resident.
You may be asked to perform some scheduled clinical task, such as drawing blood or checking a test result, while you are on call.
Whenever you evaluate a patient, you should document the event in the medical record. When the patient's main caregivers return, you should report the event to them verbally.
