Pediatrics Residency Curriculum

Boot Camp
2 weeks inpatient, 2 weeks outpatient

Inpatient Pediatrics Including Night Team
12 weeks (4 are nights)

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
6 weeks

Pediatric Emergency Room
4 weeks

Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics
4 weeks

Mixed Subspecialty
4-6 weeks

Nursery
4 weeks

Ambulatory 1 Community Medicine
4 weeks

Individualized Curriculum
8 weeks (4 inpatient)

No nights/weekends for interns on ambulatory rotations

Some Highlights from Selected Months

Boot Camp
During July or August, first-year residents participate in an intensive, introductory two-week bootcamp in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. On the inpatient unit, residents learn about the inpatient team, how to conduct family-centered rounds, how to navigate the electronic medical record as well as how to conduct safe, effective handovers. At 140 High Street, residents learn about key elements of the primary care experience, including breastfeeding, well child care, ADHD, common rashes, monitoring growth and immunizations with the support of the faculty and the clinic’s multidisciplinary team.

Developmental / Behavioral Pediatrics
The Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics rotation provides the resident exposure to both typical and atypical child development in a variety of settings. Residents work directly with faculty in the diagnosis and management of disorders such as ADHD and autism. In addition, they become acquainted with related subspecialty fields including developmental psychology, neuropsychology, and rehabilitative therapies. 

Nursery
This rotation focuses on normal newborn care. Residents care for patients in our busy newborn nursery. Residents become comfortable with the management of normal newborns during this block, including (but not limited to!) hypoglycemia, hyperbilirubinemia, routine newborn screening, and newborn anticipatory guidance. 

Mixed Subspecialty Experience
This rotation allows first year residents to explore at least two subspecialties during the block, ensuring critical early exposure to pediatric subspecialties for those residents interested in pursuing a fellowship.

Inpatient Pediatrics
8 weeks (4 weeks of nights)

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
4 weeks

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
2 weeks

Pediatric Emergency Medicine
4 weeks

Adolescent Medicine
4 weeks

On Demand (Urgent Care)
4 weeks

Ambulatory 2 Advocacy
4 weeks

Elective
12 weeks (4 inpatient)

Some Highlights from Selected Blocks

Adolescent Medicine
In this block, residents enjoy the opportunity to delve into the many issues surrounding the care of adolescents. Exposure to adolescent primary care, eating disorders, STIs, adolescent detention center and more.

Ambulatory 2 Advocacy
The advocacy block introduces residents to advocacy through the lens of climate change and environmental health. Residents explore the health impacts of climate change while building core advocacy skills and then put those skills into practice by creating an advocacy project focused on a children’s health issues, they are passionate about.

On Demand (Urgent Care)
The On Demand rotation provides exposure to the busy outpatient urgent care setting. This rotation allows residents to develop triage, efficiency, and patient management skills. Many of our graduates who go into primary care say that this was the most valuable block in preparing them for practice.  

Inpatient Pediatrics
8-10 weeks (4 weeks on nights)

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
4 weeks

Pediatric Emergency Medicine
4 weeks

Newborn Nursery
2 weeks

Ambulatory 3 - Chief
4 weeks

Elective
24 weeks (4 weeks supervisor/teacher elective)

Some Highlights from Selected Months

Night Team
During the senior night team block residents can independently manage patients, learning important skills of triage and admission of patients at night. The night senior resident also provides leadership for first year resident on the team during a single month of nighttime ward coverage.

Nursery
This rotation focuses on normal newborn care. The senior resident coordinates the clinical and educational activities of the team, which includes medical students.

Ambulatory Chief
This block provides senior residents with the experience of teaching and evaluating medical students and residents in the ambulatory setting while refining their own clinical skills. The month also exposes the senior resident to the concepts of quality improvement and practice management.

"Pre-Attending" Elective
This is a supervisory block. The resident acts as a fellow or pre-attending in the PICU, NICU, hospital, or clinic. This block allows residents to choose a supervisory and teaching role that ensures that they are ready for the next step in their career.

Inpatient Coverage

• Inpatient teams are composed of supervising seniors and first year residents. Or they are "manager" teams where a 2nd year resident works directly with the patients and attending.
• All inpatient teams may have medical students.
• Each weekend has a senior and intern from one day team and another intern from the other day team, or a manager, ensuring all patients are known to the housestaff on each day
• Two night teams, each composed of a senior resident and a first year resident cover for the block.
• All patients are covered by these inpatient residents.
• We only work 24 hour shifts in the PICU
• All shifts comply with the ACGME requirements for duty hours and days off.

NICU

In the NICU we have a night resident so there is no overnight call. All residents on the block take their turn as the night resident.

PICU

Only senior residents rotate through the PICU, where call is every fourth night. These PICU rotations are the only ones with 24-26 hour shifts during the three years.

Outpatient Coverage

Senior residents participate in beeper call from home for parent questions from the general pediatrics clinics. Senior residents also take jeopardy (sick call). One month in the second year and two months in the third year may be designed as call-free months if requested. During call-free months residents may do away electives, if eligible, and cleared by the Program Director.

Baystate Medical Center has a very robust onsite simulation center.

Resident teams on the inpatient service participate in simulated scenarios twice on each rotation. Residents’ pagers are covered by attendings during this time so as to protect their educational experience.

• Residents in the PICU go down to the center once a week as a group and work with the pediatric “patients”.
• Our NICU has a newborn baby simulator which they have incorporated into their education program; the residents on the NICU service attend simulation once a week.
• There are special simulation sessions for ED and Manager Residents.
• We also have a new initiative for first year residents to practice difficult conversations.

All of our residents work with a faculty mentor to do a project over their three years here.

Most medical students come into residency with experience in research or community service, and we feel it is important for you to be able to continue in these areas of interest. Your project can be in the areas of clinical research, community advocacy, public health, or education. Drs. Weijen Chang and Elizabeth Peacock-Chambers supervise these projects.

The Program financially supports residents presenting at national meetings.

Presentations

Each year a large subset of our residents present abstract posters and/or platform presentations at national meetings.

The Program and the GME Office provide monetary support for each resident who presents at one national meeting per year.