Our program is made up of thirteen 4-week block rotations. On average, residents spend approximately 60% of their training inpatient and 40% in ambulatory experiences. Our PGY1 schedule is comprised of mostly 4-week rotations. For PGY2/PGY3s, residents have more 2-week rotations, allowing for schedule flexibility and a balance between inpatient and ambulatory time.
| PGY1 | PGY2 | PGY3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| General wards | 3 – 4 | 2 – 3* | 2 – 3* |
| Subspecialty block | 1 – 2 | 1 – 2 | – |
| Elective (call-free) | – | 1 | 1 |
| Selective | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| ED | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| NICU | 1 | 1 | – |
| PICU | – | 1 | 1 |
| Newborn nursery & neonatal resuscitation | 1 | 0.5 – 1* | 0.5 – 1* |
| Advocacy | – | 1 | – |
| Adolescent | – | – | 1 |
| Developmental pediatrics | 1 | – | – |
| Mental health | – | 1 | – |
| Vacation | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Continuity clinic (COPE) | 0.75 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
Rotation details
Residents rotate on several general pediatrics services throughout their time in residency. During these months, residents are exposed to both the bread-and-butter and the rare diagnoses of pediatrics. Residents gain increased autonomy over the course of three years with many opportunities to supervise medical students and interns on the general pediatrics teams.
Pediatric residents care for critically ill neonatal patients at our Level 4, 140-bed NICU. Our NICU is attached by a walkway bridge to the BJC labor and delivery unit. The NICU covers a wide breadth of neonatal pathologies and management of extreme prematurity. The NICU offers extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and second year residents interested in critical care have the opportunity to rotate with our ECMO-specialty team.
The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at SLCH is a 40-bed unit that averages more that 2000 admissions annually and provides exceptional comprehensive, multidisciplinary care to critically ill children of all ages. This care includes pediatric trauma, neurocritical care, advanced mechanical ventilatory support, extracorporeal support (ECMO, RRT) and transplant care.
St. Louis Children’s Hospital is a Level 1 trauma center with high patient volume. During their rotations in the ED, residents have the opportunity to practice hands-on procedural skills as well as manage a wide spectrum of diseases.
All residents will rotate through three subspecialty block rotations throughout the course of residency – cardiology, hematology/oncology and pulmonology. These rotations are comprised of 2 weeks of inpatient service paired with 2 weeks of ambulatory experiences.
There are a wide variety of subspecialty selective experiences – residents can rotate with allergy, antimicrobial, stewardship, cardiac ICU, cardiology, child psychiatry, dentistry, dermatology, endocrinology, ENT, gastroenterology, genetics, hematology/oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, nephrology, neonatal neurology, neurology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, palliative care, PICU skills, pulmonology, radiology, rheumatology, sedation and toxicology.
While our residency offers several selective rotation experiences, residents also have the opportunity for dedicated career exploration with a month of elective in the PGY2/PGY3 years. This time can be used for subspecialty experiences, dedicated research, global health travel, additional primary care experiences, or a parenting elective for new parents. Our elective months are call-free! Residents are never scheduled for cross-coverage during elective so this is a protected month for educational experiences!
Pediatric residents are welcome to participate in research, although it is not a requirement. We can provide interested individuals with information on research opportunities. We encourage and support residents who submit abstracts resulting from work conducted during residency and who travel to present if an abstract is accepted. We support resident representation at American Academy of Pediatrics conferences and other professional organizations such as Pediatric Academic Societies and Student National Medical Association.
A day in the life
| 6:30 a.m. | Arrive for group sign-out from the night team in the resident workroom. |
| 7:00 a.m. | Pre-round – reviewing pertinent data, examining patients, creating assessments/plans for the day. |
| 7:45 – 8:15 a.m. | Morning teaching |
| 8:30 – 11:00 a.m. | Family-centered rounds with a multidisciplinary team comprising of an attending, pharmacy, nursing, case managers and co-interns on the team. |
| 11:00 – 11:50 a.m. | Call consults, follow-up on pending labs/imaging, call and update PCPs |
| 12:00 p.m. | Noon conference in the 3rd floor auditorium – free catered lunch every day! |
| 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. | Follow-up on remaining tasks from the morning, admit patients |
| 3:00 p.m. | Run the list with the Charge RN, senior resident, and attending. The “short” intern can then sign-out to the long residents if workflow allows. |
| 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. | Finish notes, update handoffs, take a trip to Kaldi’s for a coffee break or the gardens for some fresh air! |
| 6:00 p.m. | Group sign-out to the night team. Head home! |