Pediatric Residency Program

Training Curriculum

Residency at Children's Hospital 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 & physical exams, and management decisions by supervisory residents (PL2 or PL3). 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, Renal-Endocrine, 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 role as team leader, and developing their skills as a teacher. In addition to the inpatient supervisory experience, the PL3 resident is a leader and supervisor in the Primary Care setting. As resident supervisors, the PL3 resident takes an active role in the professional development of PL1s and teaching medical students. The PL3s are seen as important leaders in the program.
 

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, forty percent a career in academic general pediatrics and ten percent a career in primary care pediatrics.

In addition, many Children's Hospital 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.

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Pediatric Residency Program