The 60 months of training is divided equally such that each trainee spends 30 months in pediatrics and 30 months in emergency medicine, occuring in 3-6 month intervals. The reason for spending both three and six month blocks in each field is to allow the trainees to experience the seasonal variation of illness that is particularly important in pediatric practice.
During this year, there is a broad exposure to many medical disciplines including pediatrics, emergency medicine in both the adult and pediatric settings, critical care medicine, ultrasound, and trauma. This will enable the resident to develop basic skills in each of these areas upon which he/she can build in subsequent years of training. A continuity experience is an important aspect of pediatric practice and will be provided as a half day per week continuity clinic during each rotation in pediatrics. Thus during training, each of two residents will have 30 months of continuity clinic.
Once basic skills have been attained, the resident will be exposed to more critical care (MICU, NICU) and subspecialty experience. This will be balanced with continued exposure in both adult and pediatric Emergency Departments. A formal rotation in OB/GYN will enable the resident to become proficient in performing pelvic examinations, delivering newborns, and treating common gynecologic problems and emergencies.
This year begins the transition to senior resident status. The resident will be expected to assume more of a supervisory role and be afforded greater responsibilities in both the pediatric and adult populations. The R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center here on campus will continue to serve as the site for residents to enhance their trauma skills and sharpen their ariway techniques as the resident rotates through Trauma Anesthesia.
This year continues the emphasis on leadership skills that were initiated in the PGY3 year. Each resident will be assigned to a pediatric trauma rotation at DC Children's Hospital, and the resident will also continue to assume a supervisory role in the pediatric and adult emergency departments. Futhermore, elective experiences will be chosen by individual residents in order to round out their knowledge and experience.
The final year of the program will provide a major exposure to both the pediatric and adult emergency departments. A final senior PICU rotation, trauma, pediatric anesthesia and ultrasound will round out the curriculum with several electives being given to allow the resident to develop one's passion within a particular area.
Through the pediatrics department, the Universtiy of Maryland Medical Center holds 152 inpatient beds -- 106 at University Hospital (32 general inpatient, 14 intermediate care, 10 PICU, 40 NICU, and 10 NICU step-down), as well as two full term nursery practices. There are approximately 4,500 admissions annually, including 1,000 admissions to the PICU/IMC. Ambulatory visits total over 100,000 annually -- 75,000 at University and 25,000 at Mercy. Our services range from primary care to highly specialized treatment programs that attract patients from the entire mid-Atlantic region.
Our Mercy Medical Center operation, staffed by full-time faculty, is an integral part of our program. It affords housestaff opportunities which complement the University Hospital experience. Active working relationships exist with virtually all clinical departments in the hospital. Especially strong are the department’s linkages with psychiatry, OB/GYN, internal medicine, emergency medicine, and surgery.
The department of pediatrics has over 130,000 square feet of space in the Medical Center, including a recently renovated NICU which holds 40+ single room NICU beds. All inpatients are on two floors, creating a "hospital within a hospital" dedicated to pediatrics. A new state of the art pediatric emergency department is now contiguous with the new adult emergency department.
All inpatient rooms are private or semi-private and afford rooming-in for family. On-call rooms, convenient for housestaff, are in all inpatient areas and in the emergency room. A pediatric pharmacy and a NICU lab are also located in the central inpatient area.
Our department ranks in the top ten among all state university pediatric departments in federal research grant awards. Overall, grants and contracts total more than $19 million.
If you are interested in applying for both the Emergency Medicine/Pediatrics program as well as the categorical emergency medicine program, you must submit a separate ERAS application for Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medicine/Pediatrics. If, on the other hand, you are interested in applying for the Emergency Medicine/ Pediatrics program as well as the categorical pediatrics program, you must submit an ERAS application for Pediatrics and one for Emergency Medicine/Pediatrics.