Program Strengths

 Faculty-Resident Interactions

• Training of residents is considered one of the most important activities by the Department of Pediatrics.
• Residents receive highly individualized attention.
• Residents are exposed to role models who have been successful in academic pediatrics. 
• Each resident is assigned a Faculty Advisor matched to the resident’s interests upon arrival to the program.   

Academic Hospitalist Service

• Diagnostic Referral Group (DRG), led by Dr. Basil Zitelli, includes 15 gifted clinical educators devoted to teaching inpatient pediatric medicine. 
• The DRG service works closely with the resident teams and students, conducting Family-Centered Rounds on all general medical services and providing outstanding bedside, clinical, and didactic teaching. 
• The faculty provide feedback on each clinical rotation.

Family-Centered Rounds

• Family-centered rounds (FCR), conducted at the bedside, include family members, nursing, pharmacy, medical students, residents, and attending physicians. 
• FCR enhances patient and family understanding and empowers parents to ask questions and actively participate in decision making and their child’s day-to-day care. 

General Academic Pediatric (GAP) Teaching Faculty

• The Division of GAP, led by Alejandro Hoberman, MD, plays a major role in residency education and supervision in the Primary Care Center.
• Division members are involved in educating residents in continuity clinic, acute concerns clinic, and the newborn rotation.
• Faculty members develop strong mentoring relationships with residents interested in clinical research and educational scholarship.
• In 2009, the GAP group was honored with the Academic Pediatric Association's Teaching Award for its work in clinical education.

Simulation Courses and Workshops

Residents experience state-of-the-art training at the Peter M. Winter Institute for Simulation Education and Research (WISER) in an effort to improve education through simulation. The WISER center in Oakland and the WISER Pediatric Simulation Satellite Center at Children’s Hospital allow residents and students to gain hands-on education through simulation for a variety of clinical situations. Residents currently participate in simulation training in:

• Mock codes
• Principles in pediatric trauma management
• IV placement and venipuncture
• Lumbar puncture
• Arterial puncture
• Tracheostomy management
• Bladder catheterization
• Procedural Sedation

Residents' Website

• Exclusively for residents
• Schedules
• Residency calendar
• Rotation learning objectives
• Recommended articles for each rotation
• Conference presentations

Choices for Continuity Clinic

In the weekly Continuity Clinic, each resident, under the supervision of dedicated faculty preceptors, provides longitudinal care for his or her own panel of patients throughout residency. Residents can choose from a variety of Continuity Clinic experiences including:

• Hospital-based primary care clinics
• Federally qualified health centers
• Private primary care offices located in the Pittsburgh area