Durham & the Duke Community

Nicknamed the City of Medicine, Durham is home to four hospitals. Approximately 22,000 of its 125,000 citizens work in health-related fields.

 

Durham is an integral part of a growing tri-city area called the Triangle, which also includes Raleigh and Chapel Hill. In the heart of the Triangle, nearly ten miles from Duke, is Research Triangle Park, one of the oldest and most successful high-technology research parks in the country. The park houses the national laboratories of Glaxo Wellcome Inc., the National Humanities Center, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. In addition, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is eleven miles away, North Carolina State University is twenty miles away in Raleigh, and North Carolina Central University is in Durham itself. This mix of research, industry and teaching institutions makes for an active intellectual, cultural, and recreational life in Durham.

 

The Triangle's range of cultural attractions rivals that found in much larger, and more expensive, cities. The $20 million downtown Durham Arts Center has become a national model for community arts programs. Area attractions include the highly acclaimed American Dance Festival, touring Broadway shows, outstanding art exhibits, libraries, concerts in the park, and performances by renowned symphonies, opera, and ballet companies.

 

Three rival NCAA schools make this area a year-round haven for sports fans. In addition to college football and some of the best basketball anywhere, Durham is home to the Durham Bulls, a Triple-A minor league baseball team for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Carolina Hurricanes, NHL hockey's 2006 Stanley Cup champions, play in Raleigh's RBC Center. Other competitive sports popular in the Triangle include soccer, lacrosse, tennis, track and field, golf, ice hockey, and swimming. Duke University maintains a championship golf course, tennis courts, swimming pools, running trails, hiking paths, and a faculty club, all available to the resident staff In addition, white-water canoeing, hiking, camping, horseback riding, and racquetball can be found within a 20-mile radius of the city.

 

The area's four distinct yet mild seasons make it possible to enjoy many of these activities year-round. Durham averages 230 days of sunshine and less than seven inches of snow a year. Located in the hilly, forested Piedmont region of North Carolina, Durham is only three hours from the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky mountains to the west and clean, spacious beaches to the east. Historic Williamsburg, Virginia; Washington, DC; and Atlanta are all approximately five hours away by car.

 

Durham offers established, tree-lined residential neighborhoods, handsome new developments, and houses in the countryside. Thirty-nine denominations are represented through churches or synagogues in Durham. Private as well as public schooling is available.

 

The Duke Children’s Hospital community offers a variety of opportunities for getting involved in the hospital's causes and to form stronger ties with the staff.

 

In the fall, the Duke Benefit Horse Show attracts equestrians and supporters from throughout the Southeast. In May, we host the Duke Children's Classic, a major golf tennis and running festival fund-raiser for the department. In June, faculty and staff volunteer to answer telephones for the Duke Children's Miracle Network Telethon. And in July and August, Camp Kaleidoscope needs counselors to staff the annual overnight summer camp for children with chronic illnesses sponsored by the Department of Pediatrics.

 

With its close ties to the community and commitment to outstanding education, its venerable past and vital future, Duke University Medical Center offers extraordinary opportunities to medical students, residents, fellows and faculty in this rewarding medical specialty. As a pediatrician, you will have a unique ability to make a positive impact on the health of infants, children, and adolescents and thus on the very future of our society. Toward that end, we invite you to discover your own future potential for growth, for achievement, and for professional satisfaction by investigating the possibilities in the Department of Pediatrics at Duke.