Residency Curriculum

• General Pediatrics
  Residents learn general pediatrics through (a) weekly sessions in Continuity Practice taking care of sick and well children of all ages, (b) time spent in Urgent Care clinics, and (c) rotations on the General Inpatient Unit.
• Subspecialty Pediatrics
  We have subspecialty clinics for children needing specialized care in allergy/immunology, cardiology, diabetes, endocrinology, gastroenterology, hematology, genetics, infectious diseases, neonatology and nephrology. Residents have required and elective subspecialty rotations during the PGY-3 year, organized so that the resident assumes direct care responsibility for subspecialty patients in clinic and on hospital wards, in close consultation with the subspecialty faculty.
• Individual Tracks
  Six (6) individualized learning units have been organized into tracks. The three (3) track options are community, hospitalist and subspecialty pediatric tracks.
• Core Curriculum
  All relevant pediatric topics are covered during a recurring 18-month curricular cycle via a wide range of educational experiences, including case-based conferences, didactic lectures and outside readings.
• Year 1 (Post Graduate Year - PGY1)

  As first year residents, pediatric interns learn the basic principles and practices of pediatric medicine through directly supervised patient care on the inpatient and outpatient clinical services. PGY-1 residents rotate on the inpatient ward teams, the Newborn Nursery and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The Inpatient Pediatric Service exposes residents to a wide variety of acute pediatric problems, as well as, acute and chronic illnesses for chronically ill or disabled children. UTMB delivers over 6,200 infants annually, giving our residents excellent neonatal training in our nursery as well as our Level 4 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.  Residents participate in daily work rounds and teaching conferences with attendings during each of these rotations. 

  Outpatient experiences include rotations through the UTMB Primary Care, Acute Care,  as well as Specialty Care Clinics.  The Health and Development rotation is designed for the resident to improve knowledge of normal development and skills for well-child visits and anticipatory guidance. In addition, the Adolescent Medicine rotation exposes residents to multidisciplinary teen care. Throughout all three years of training, residents spend at least one half-day per week caring for continuity patients, which they follow throughout their years of training.

• Year 2 (Post Graduate Year - PGY2)

  During the PGY-2 year, residents participate in a structured curriculum covering continuity care, and various other essential elements of primary and secondary pediatric outpatient care. Diverse clinical settings are used for the resident to put education into action, all under the supervision of experienced faculty clinician-educators. Residents also participate in specialized multidisciplinary clinics for the evaluation of suspected abuse and neglect, AIDS/HIV, and a variety of selected sub-specialties including pediatric dermatology, asthma and psychiatry. Residents experience  neonatal and pediatric intensive care units, in addition to general pediatric inpatient and newborn nursery care. During this year, residents play in important supervisory role in mother/baby, inpatient and neonatal intensive care units.

  Our unique School Health and Community Pediatrics Program offers PGY-2 residents additional educational experiences serving as a school consultant and physician liaison with one of our local school districts. This program introduces residents to school and community health issues and shows them how to consult with community organizations and services that provide child health services (systems-based practice).

  Residents are introduced to education topics during the Senior Teaching Rotation where they take on the role of teaching and supervision of junior residents and medical students. During this rotation, they are expected to contribute to a quality improvement project.

  The remainder of the year is devoted to electives, continued participation in continuity care clinics, and the development and implementation of resident scholarly projects.

• Year 3(Post Graduate Year - PGY3)

  During the third year, the residents’ education program focuses on providing individualized training in preparation of their career path or fellowship training, as well as continuing the role of teaching and supervision of junior residents and medical students. The third-year resident rotates as a supervisor on the inpatient service, the ER, the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and multiple subspecialty services. They also function as the night inpatient admitting resident (AR).

  There is considerable time in this year for electives and subspecialty rotations to tailor the end of their training to reflect areas of interest or future career decisions. Options include endocrinology, gastroenterology, nephrology, neurology, infectious diseases, cardiology, genetics, chronic care, allergy/immunology, business of medicine, among other core and non-core electives.

  Resident scholarly projects are completed in the spring of the third year and presented at the Annual Resident Research Forum.