Welcome to LearnPICU. This site contains summaries of core topics in pediatric critical care medicine.  Each topic also has associated practice board-type questions, supporting references, and summaries of seminal articles. Whether you are a medical student or a seasoned intensivist, we hope you find the resources here helpful.     

Recent News
September 13

New topic page for Drowning has been added.

July 21

New Nutrition Guidelines for Critically-Ill children have been published in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine.

May 21

New Pediatric Sepsis guidelines have been published in Critical Care Medicine. One of the major changes involves early recognition and management through bundles.

March 21

PRISM Investigators report their study in NEJM showing no benefit for EGDT compared to usual care (including in various subgroup analyses) in a meta-analysis of PROMISE, PROCESS, and ARISE.

January 26

THAPCA-In-Hospital trial shows no difference in clinical outcome between pediatric patients treated with normothermia and hypothermia for in-hospital cardiac arrest.



The site is also known as Custer's Core Curriculum and was named in honor of Dr. Joseph Custer, founder of the pediatric intensive care unit at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, a teacher and mentor to countless fellows, residents, and medical students, and who taught us that when it comes down to it, "the air goes in and out and the blood goes round and round."  


Dr. Joseph Custer


We hope you find the site helpful and welcome any comments or suggestions to improve its content and usefulness. Please contact Dr. Kevin Kuo, editor of the site, with any comments, questions, or suggestions.