Pediatric Residency Program:  Curriculum

The residency curriculum is evaluated continuously by a curriculum committee composed of faculty and chief residents. The Residency Council (a resident-run organization) also meets monthly to discuss any proposed changes. Changes are discussed and implemented based on committee recommendations.

As part of its commitment to excellence in training, the program realizes that no single approach can encompass how individuals learn and respond to the experiences they will encounter in a pediatric residency.  The program utilizes measures of learning styles to help each resident maximize his or her learning experience.  In addition, through the Department Office of Pediatric Education, an educational specialist is available for individualized assistance in approaches to adult learning. 
 
While residency training can be challenging, training program leaders are attentive to the multitude of issues that affect a resident's life. Residents meet regularly as a group with the chief residents to discuss matters affecting patient care and residency training. The Department of Pediatrics also sponsors many social functions throughout the year. These have included raft trips in the nearby mountains, resident retreats, and traditional softball games, picnics, gatherings and holiday parties. The program has a social worker who works with residents on communication and interpersonal skills and is available to residents and their families for individualized short-term counseling if needed.

PL-1
The PL-1 rotations currently include the full-term nursery, the intensive care nursery, inpatient services, ambulatory clinics, ER, Durham Regional Hospital, and two electives. The PL-1 has primary responsibility for the care of inpatient and outpatient infants and children. PL-1s work as part of a team that includes senior residents, faculty, and other personnel.

PL-2
The PL-2 year includes supervisory rotations in the intensive care nursery and on the wards. In addition to electives, PL-2s have rotations in adolescent medicine, behavior and development, a community outreach and advocacy experience, a community-based outpatient clinic, the emergency department, and the pediatric intensive care unit. During supervisory rotations, PL-2s oversee PL-1s and medical students.

PL-3
The PL-3 year currently includes a wide variety of required and elective experiences. PL-3s serve as the senior supervisory resident in the intensive care nursery, on the majority of inpatient services, and in the general pediatric ambulatory facility on Roxboro Road. PL-3s also have rotations in the emergency department and at Duke’s Lenox Baker Children’s Hospital where they learn the principles of rehabilitative medicine. The program also includes many elective rotations during the PL-3 year to add breadth and depth to each resident’s experience, while also allowing the resident to tailor his or her education to his or her personal and career goals.

Chief Residents
The chief residents are faculty members of the Office of Pediatric Education and work closely with the program director and the director of graduate pediatric education in planning and conducting the teaching and patient care activities of the department. Additional duties include overseeing the resident staff activities and arranging resident schedules and conferences.