Home > For Professionals & Med Ed > Pediatric Residency Program

Common Questions

How often are you on-call in your first year?

In general, interns are on-call every fourth night.

How many months of floor do you work in the first year?

Interns typically spend three to four months on the inpatient unit.

How does night float work?

During certain electives, both the second and third year residents will spend a one-week block doing night float. Night float covers the inpatient unit and includes a full Saturday call followed by a 7:00pm to 8:00am shift, Monday through Thursday. This was a resident decision to change from Sunday to Saturday and everyone loves it!

How does weekend call work?

For the intern on call for the weekend, sign-out is at 8:00am. Call is a 24-hour day with sign-out at 8:00am the following day (or 7:00am work rounds if it is Monday). Interns leave post-call in the morning when they are finished with their work. The NICU works a little bit differently than the floor; sign-out on the weekend occurs at 7:30am

How is the floor team organized?

The floor team consists of two senior residents (usually a second and a third year) who supervise and manage three pediatric interns and two third year medical students. The interns are responsible for the care of four to10 patients, as well as teaching and providing feedback to the medical students. The senior resident supervises sub- interns, manages the team, and makes patient care decisions with the attendings. The inpatient subspecialty, surgical, and general pediatric patients are cared for by the same team. The residents care for all patients admitted to the inpatient service. There is no such thing as a non-teaching case.

What about the size of the program?

We have 12 residents per year, as well as two PGY-4 chief residents. We think that this is the perfect size. It gives our residents the chance to get to know everyone well and gives that “family feeling” without being too small that any illness or absence creates a problem.

What kind of ancillary services do you have?

Phlebotomy is available 24 hours per day. For the most part, IVs are done by the nurses but the tough ones are done by the residents. Transport techs take patients to radiology and various other departments for testing. Our child life staff is quite large and available for play therapy, distraction therapy, as well as fun and games while children are in the hospital. Our nursing staff is excellent and the residents enjoy a good relationship with them.

How does the jeopardy system work?

Everyday, there are one to two residents designated for “back-up” call if needed in case of emergency. Although the jeopardy system is rarely utilized, residents should be available to come to work within one hour’s notice.

How many NICU months do you do?

There are two months of NICU in the first year and one month in both the PGY-2 and PGY-3 year. Our NICU is a level three NICU with 44 beds and a busy labor and delivery service, as well as a high-risk perinatal service. The NICU serves as a regional referral center for critically ill neonates especially those requiring surgery.

How many PICU months do you do?

There are two months of PICU, one in the PGY-2 and PGY-3 year. In addition, during months that you are not on night float, call can be in the PICU.

What is the procedure month?

You have four weeks to accomplish a list of tasks, including phlebotomy, intubations, LP’s etc. A week is spent in the outpatient lab; a week is spent in anesthesia; and the remaining two weeks are up to you. You know what you need to accomplish and it is up to you to get it done. This rotation is based on an adult-learning theory and gives you lots of flexibility, as well as great experiences.

Do you have continuity clinic?

All of the residents maintain a panel of patients in either the Family Health Center or the Healthstart Clinic. Clinic is one-half day per week with great emphasis on continuity.

Do you have outpatient pediatric experiences in addition to continuity clinic?

During ambulatory pediatric rotations, residents rotate through a variety of settings, including private offices in the community. This is to expose residents to different populations of patients, as well as different styles of practicing medicine.

Is there a research requirement?

All of our residents are required to do a scholarly activity, which includes clinical research and curriculum development. With the abundance of ongoing clinical research at the institution, finding an interesting project or a research mentor is easy.

Is scheduling flexible?

The chief residents make every attempt to honor requests and are as flexible as possible. They also make the schedule several months in advance so that you can plan your life better, and not have to scramble when the schedule comes out at the very end of a month. Sometimes, the schedule doesn’t look the way that you had hoped. Residents are permitted to make switches but need to get approval from the chiefs (to avoid work duty hour violations).

What is the patient population like?

The Goryeb Children’s Hospital is a regional referral and level one trauma center; therefore the area that patients come from is over 1,200 square miles. We see it all: urban, suburban, recent immigrant, disadvantaged and privileged. Diversity means different people from different countries, as well as different socioeconomic backgrounds.