Curriculum

The focus of the first year (PGY-1) is to differentiate between well, ill- appearing, and critically ill children. Four months of the year are spent in the inpatient setting at BMSCH. Additional time is spent learning about newborns both in the well-baby unit and in the neonatal intensive care unit.

The second year (PGY-2) lets the resident begin to take on leadership roles in the inpatient setting. Further, the resident is able to start exploring various areas of pediatrics that he/she believe will be helpful in his/her future with several months tailored to individual needs. The resident spends block time in the intensive care units and in the emergency department.

The final year (PGY-3) encourages residents to take ownership of their year developing an individualized curriculum that meets both their educational needs as well as their career goals. Opportunities for electives and completing their individualized curricula are the primary emphasis. However, residents also spend time as the inpatient senior for two blocks, and an additional two blocks in the intensive care unit.

In July 2022, our program transitioned to the X+Y scheduling system. We are using a 3 +1 model and have officially joined the ACGME pilot for pediatric programs. With this system, residents spend 3 weeks in an “X” rotation and then have one “Y” week of outpatient experiences that can include continuity clinic, advocacy, development, research and administrative time. Overall, this scheduling system has been shown to lead to improvements in patient care, educational outcomes and the clinic experience.

For their clinic experience, residents are assigned to either Eric B Chandler Health Center or Robert Wood Johnson Medical Group at Somerset. Accompanying the continuity clinic experience is a well-organized curriculum that rotates and repeats over the course of the residents’ training. During years one and two all residents are required to see general pediatric patients at their primary care continuity site. However, if residents are pursuing subspecialty training and they wish to have a continuity experience in their subspecialty, they are able to arrange an outpatient longitudinal clinic in that venue.

All residents participate in a quality improvement (QI) curriculum and participate in QI workshops during block lecture. In addition, all residents are required to complete a scholarly project.

Scholarly Activity:

 

In addition to teaching and clinical activities, faculty, fellows and residents are involved in basic clinical research. Some of the many research project opportunities include: pediatric HIV; nephrotic syndrome; developmental follow-up of premature infants; control of neonatal respiration; necrotizing enterocolitis; transdermal drug administration; autism; Tourette’s syndrome; childhood rheumatological diseases; learning and motivation in the infant; sexual abuse in children; new treatments of childhood cancer; respiratory mechanics in children with lung disease; molecular genetics; emergency room utilization; and screening for language delay.

Residents are required to complete a scholarly activity prior to graduation. Projects involving quality improvement and community advocacy have been completed to fulfill this requirement and opportunities in the Pediatric Clinical Research Center, located within the Child Health Institute, are available to residents.

Current Scholarly Activity Projects:

PGY3:

• Transport Study- Telehealth QI Project
• Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in extremely preterm neonates: Risk factors and Outcomes
• Transitional Care for Diabetic Adolescents
• A pilot study of propranolol to treat behaviors in adolescents
• Outcomes and effectiveness of enteral nutrition in IBD patients
• Validating Claims of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
• Reach Out & Read: Implementation Among Pediatric Residents
• The Characterization of PICC Line Displacement by Upper Extremity Manipulation via Point of Care Ultrasonography
• Prognostic use of anti-TPO and anti-thyroglobulin antibodies in children with Autoimmune Thyroiditis

PGY2:

• Utility of Video Telehealth Implementation in Transport

• Project LIGHT

• Reducing Pressure Injuries in the PICU

• Improving Inpatient Management of Eating Disorders

• Parental Food Allergy Survey

• Inpatient Management of Eating Disorders

• Prospective Study of GVHD in Pediatric BMT

• Survey of VTE Protocols for Risk Assessment

• Erythromycin Microbiome Project

• QOL Assessment for Peds Endo Patients

• CHPG Hypoxemia Murine Model

• Asynchronous Literacy Boost