Pediatric Residency Clinical Curriculum

Curriculum chart

Clinical curriculum

• Inpatient wards - There are four ward teams for hospital admissions; each with both general pediatrics and subspecialty patients. Each team consists of at least 1 supervisory resident as well as 1-2 interns. Teams take daytime call every fourth day. During the week, call ends at 6 p.m. when patients are signed out to the night float team. On the weekends, call lasts until 10 p.m. for the interns and the supervisory residents stay overnight which typically occurs 2-3 times per month. Upper levels must be dismissed by faculty at 11 a.m. the day after overnight call.
• Night float - During the week, there is a night float team consisting of at least one supervisory resident and 1-2 interns. Overnight call is from 6 p.m.-7 a.m. Monday-Thursday and every other Sunday. During this time, the night float team covers all the patients on the floors and is responsible for overnight admissions as well. Night float begins at 6 p.m. and ends at 8 a.m.
• Surgical hospitalist - At least one supervisory resident and one intern make up the inpatient surgical hospitalist team. This service follows surgical patients on a multidisciplinary team with an attending pediatric hospitalist. There is not overnight call associated with this service.
• Emergency department - In the Pediatric ED, residents generally work approximately 15 12-hour shifts. During this month, residents will see a variety of pathology ranging from cough and congestion to trauma. Upper-level residents typically carry the sickest patients in the ER, including the trauma patients.
• Neonatal intensive care unit - As the only Level IV NICU in the state and one of the largest NICUs in the country, we see a wide variety of pathology in our newborn center. There are 3-4 house officers on the resident team and each resident will complete about four night shifts during the month. You will take care of the babies on your team as well as attend high-risk deliveries. There is no additional call in the NICU. As a PGY-3, you will spend half your month in the newborn nursery attending deliveries.
• Newborn nursery - There are about 3,000 babies born every year at UMMC - you will know what a healthy newborn is after this month! In addition to well babies on our Mother-Baby Unit, residents will see babies in our intermediate nursery (a step-down unit for the NICU). You will also have the opportunity to attend low-risk deliveries and perform procedures such as circumcisions.
• Advocacy/community pediatrics - During these months, interns spend time with local general pediatricians as well as participating in advocacy opportunities around the state. As a PGY-3, you will complete this rotation again participating in advocacy and community pediatrics of your choice.
• Pediatric intensive care unit - During this month, PGY2 and PGY3 residents take care of the sickest of the sick. In the PICU residents are able to learn critical care medicine as well as new procedures such as central lines and intubations. There is a night-float system in the PICU as well, so there is no 24-hour call for residents during this month.
• Hematology/oncology - During this month, you take care of inpatient hematology and oncology patients. We have a wide variety of pathology to see at UMMC this month. You will also have an opportunity to get some additional exposure to procedures such as bone marrow aspirations and lumbar punctures.
• Child development center - Learn the ins and outs of developmental and behavioral pediatrics. On this rotation, you will treat patients with ADHD, autism and various genetic and developmental delays in the outpatient setting.
• Adolescent medicine - Learn the fine art of treating the teenage patient on this outpatient rotation. You will attend outpatient as well as outreach clinics with our Adolescent Medicine faculty as well as see inpatient consults.
• Electives/individualized learning - During these months, you will be able to choose from a wide variety of subspecialties to rotate. Each year, you are allotted more and more elective time to help direct your career focus. PGY-1s have 1 elective/year, PGY-2s have 2 electives/year and PGY-3s have 4 electives/year.