Training Curriculum
Residency at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia delivers in-depth experience in both inpatient and outpatient areas, while progressively increasing individual responsibility and opportunities for elective study. In light of their important role as teachers, all residents are also offered faculty appointments in the School of Medicine as instructors.
First year
The PL1 is the primary clinician and takes primary call from the floor. For the first seven blocks of the intern year, there is close supervision of all orders, admission history and physical exams, and management decisions by supervisory residents (PL2, PL3 or PL4). The supervisory resident is responsible for the floor pager and admission process.
In the second half of the PL1 year, there is graduated autonomy on the inpatient floors. The PL1s begin to take responsibility for the floor pager and admission process, in addition to primary patient responsibility. The senior resident remains on the floor as a consulting physician for the team. The supervisory resident is aware of all patients on the floor, evaluates all admissions after discussion with the PL1 and is available for any questions or concerns.
Second year
A core focus of the PL2 year is obtaining proficiency at assessing and managing critically ill children. PL2s have experiences on Oncology, Cardiology, Endocrine, Adolescent-Renal, the PICU and the CHOP NICU as the primary clinician. On the inpatient floors, PL2s take on a leadership role equivalent to that of PL3s, which includes supervision and teaching of interns and medical students.
Third year
The core focus of the PL3 year is integrating knowledge, refining their roles as team leaders, and developing their skills as teachers. In addition to the inpatient supervisory experience, the PL3 resident is a leader and supervisor in the primary care setting. As a resident supervisor, the PL3 resident takes an active role in the professional development of PL1s and teaching medical students. There is a dedicated rotation in the PL3 year to work on teaching and leadership skills.
Preparation for the future
At the conclusion of their training at Children's Hospital, residents have a diverse choice of career paths. In the past, about half of our graduating residents have pursued a subspecialty fellowship, 40 percent a career in academic general pediatrics, and 10 percent a career in primary care pediatrics.
In addition, many CHOP’s residents arrange to study abroad within cultures that match their specific interests. The rich network of international connections available at both Children's Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania has resulted in post-residency study in such locations as Shanghai, St. George's Island and Kenya.
Get more information:
Pediatric Residency Program
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