Start Here! ​

 

• Please start your PCC rotation by reviewing the orientation materials and watching the orientation slideshow in preparation for your first day in PCC. The PowerPoint Slideshow is available via UCLA Box at https://uclahs.box.com/s/1a89uotr83d3a45egxfuijmzovv8vsh4

  • Click "PCC Orientation_UrgentCare_SlideShow.ppsx" to download the file that should begin playing with audio automatically. You can move through slides by clicking the right and left arrows to control the pace.

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PCC Senior Resident Overview

 

• Welcome to the PCC Senior rotation! It is a great rotation to enhance your skills in general pediatric ambulatory care and teaching. You will see patients directly in the clinic and indirectly via in-basket/telephone encounters (advising families on next steps including if clinic visit recommended). The rotation is also an opportunity to learn about the logistics of outpatient pediatrics (including referrals, prior authorizations, etc.). Finally, it is a resident-as-teacher educational opportunity to instruct other learners including interns and medical students.

• The rotation relies on your open, honest, and timely feedback to improve. Please share your rotational experiences with the PCC attendings in real-time so that together, we can continue to enhance the rotation.

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PCC Senior Resident Responsibilities

 

As the PCC senior resident, you will be engaged in Patient Care and Medical Education. Patient Care includes direct patient, indirect patient care, and clinic flow.

 

Direct Patient Care:

• Seeing patients in the clinic. Consider looking out for chief concerns that you want to develop more clinical knowledge and confidence (e.g., newborn concerns, rashes, MSK, etc.).

• Supporting the intern and students as they see patients in the clinic.

 

Indirect Patient Care:

• Responding to patient/family calls and messages. Triaging needs based on clinical acuity. (Please work collaboratively with the PCC Patient Service Representative, or PSR).

• Ordering vaccines for nursing visits. (All vaccines administered in the clinic must be ordered by a physician to ensure medical contraindications are noted)

  • Vaccine orders can be placed through the nursing encounter or through an “orders only” encounter. Ask the attending if you need help with such encounters/orders.

  • Use PEDS Immunization SmartSet to order vaccines (this ensures the appropriate vaccines specific to the clinic are ordered).

• Occasionally, helping fill out school forms, sports physicals, etc. if their continuity clinic resident is unavailable, the need is time sensitive, etc.

 

Clinic Flow:

• Managing the clinic workflow including that patients are signed up for and orders are being placed among the trainees (interns, residents, medical students) in a timely fashion.

• Precepting students as they prepare to present to the PCC attending (e.g., helping students prepare their oral presentations, building DDx, developing A/P, placing orders, etc.).  

 

Medical Education / Teaching:

• The PCC rotation is a wonderful opportunity for medical students and residents to contribute to their own and the group’s learning during clinic teaching sessions. It is the expectation of the PCC senior resident to coordinate and facilitate teaching sessions while on the rotation.

• Recommended times to do group teaching is at the start of clinic ~8AM or after noon conference ~1:15PM, while waiting for patients to be roomed. PCC attendings can help in the teaching, answering questions, and providing clinical pearls. 

• There is a list of recommended teaching topics on the laminated sheet on the corkboard. This list includes common diagnoses in the ambulatory setting, many of which have published clinical practice guidelines. Please encourage the learners to select from this list (or a topic of their own) to prepare their “chalk talks” for the team.  

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Patient Calls/Messages:

• Patients/families call the clinic’s appointment line at 310.825.0867. The call center forwards non-urgent messages to the clinic's front office staff during regular clinic hours. Any urgent or time sensitive calls will be routed directly to the clinic backline. 

• The clinic staff will try their best to triage and forward relevant calls/messages to the PCC senior resident pool or the Nurse Triage service. These nurses will triage and document calls to the PCC senior resident pool for a physician’s awareness.  

• The PCC Senior Resident is paged for any urgent calls and if after-hours (outside the hours of Nurse Triage and SMW pager coverage), which may be 6AM-6PM Mon-Fri.

• Messages are a mix of "my child has a fever, “I have questions", "I need a new referral", "I need a refill", etc.

  • When you return the call, please document notes and place orders directly in the call/message encounter in CareConnect.

• Sometimes you may receive messages better addressed by another staff member; please forward these encounters to the appropriate staff member through CareConnect. A helpful staff member to be familiar with is the General Pediatrics PSR (Patient Service Representative). Examples include: 

  • Questions regarding insurance authorizations for referrals already ordered in CareConnect – PSR can help to follow up with Financial Clearance Unit (FCU).

  • Questions regarding immunization records - Patients can locate immunization records in MyChart. Clinic nurses can print out vaccine records.

  • Patients from the UCLA Pediatric Medical Home Program - Please forward care coordination questions and needs to the Medical Home Office (Siem Ia, NP). 

  • If questions remain, please ask the PCC attending in the office. 

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Admissions/Transfers:

• If a patient needs escalation of care to the ER or hospital, these steps are outlined at the senior resident desk. Please refer to a PCC attending for help during the process. ​

• ER Transfers: 

  • Patient needs emergent, active management (i.e., respiratory distress, dehydration, sepsis work-up, etc.).

  • Provider who saw the patient calls to sign out patient to the consulting pediatric hospitalist.

  • Senior resident (or intern) calls the ER charge RN/triage RN  to notify about patient being sent to the ER. The ER notes this in CareConnect as a "pre-arrival" to the ER. 

  • Ask the PCC nurses to call for patient transport and needs as you see fit (i.e., wheelchair escort, BLS, ACLS)... if there is emergent need, call 9-1-1, which is the fastest way to get a patient to ER.

• Direct Admissions (seldom done nowadays given hospital bed shortages)

  • Patient does not have emergent needs (i.e., babies who need phototherapy).

  • Provider who saw the patient calls to discuss direct admission with consulting pediatric hospitalist (also to determine where to directly admit patient depending on bed availability, Westwood or Santa Monica).

  • If all in agreement for direct admission, senior resident (or intern) places direct admit order into CareConnect. Follow steps as outlined at senior resident desk (including confirming receipt by bed control, admissions, etc.).  

    • Call direct admit RN (Diedra) x77797 to fast-track the process.

  • If there is no bed availability or unclear timeline for direct admission, please consider patient transport to the ER. PCC can get very busy, and it may be better for the patient to continue care, monitoring, and disposition in the ER.

 

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​​​Last updated: April 2025