Curriculum Overview - Pediatric Residency Program | Children's National Hospital

Our goal is to make sure that our comprehensive general pediatrics residency “fits each resident” – meaning that residents can tailor their curriculum to match their learning style and professional goals. As such, we offer a two-tiered, individualized curriculum.

The first tier involves residency training “tracks.” Tracks are longitudinal programs that medical students apply to with the intent of participating in that track throughout the duration of their residency. All tracks have 24 months of pediatric training in common, ensuring that graduates all provide superb pediatric care and can pursue careers in general pediatrics or subspecialty training. Additional rotations are included in each track to offer residents opportunities that meet their unique career goals and interests.

Categorical Track: This is the traditional residency training curriculum that provides a broad exposure to inpatient and outpatient opportunities with a significant amount of customizable elective time. There are approximately 24 residents per year in this track.
Leadership in Advocacy, Under-resourced Communities and Health Equity (LAUnCH) Track: This track provides a supportive and cohesive learning community that focuses on improving the health of under-resourced patients as well as the development of skills in health policy, advocacy and community healthcare delivery. There are approximately eight residents per year in this track.
Primary Care Track: This track provides focused and consecutive block time in a primary care practice so that residents can gain in-depth exposure to the daily routine and inner workings of a practice. Elective opportunities in advocacy, health policy and community health are also available. There are approximately five residents per year in this track.
Research Track: This track is for residents with substantial previous research experience and a desire to continue to build their careers as physician-scientists during residency. A customized mentoring committee of experienced Children’s National investigators is assembled for each Research Track resident. There are up to two residents per year in this track.
Pediatrics and Medical Genetics Combined Residency Program: The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), in conjunction with Children's National Hospital, offers a unique opportunity for medical school graduates to complete a combined, four-year residency program in pediatrics and medical genetics. There is one resident per year in this track.
Child Neurology Residency Program: This is a five-year training program, consisting of two years of pediatric residency training followed by three years of neurology fellowship training designed to prepare physicians to diagnose and treat a wide range of child neurology disorders. There are three residents per year in this track.

The second tier of our individualized curriculum includes our optional "pathways." Any resident can participate in any of our pathways.

Our Residency Rotations and Schedule

Each year of residency consists of thirteen, four-week block rotations. Residents have varying schedules based on their training track, with each providing an excellent foundation in general and subspecialty pediatric care. All residents are assigned to a continuity clinic, where they spend half-day each week throughout all three years of training learning primary care through longitudinal care of patients.

Intern Year Rotations

Inpatient Wards: 5 blocks
- Inpatient Ward Blocks: 2 Hospitalist, 1 Pulmonary & Adolescent, 1 Gastroenterology, 1 Neurology
Night team on Inpatient Wards: 1.5-2 blocks (in 2-week segments)
NICU (at GWU): 1 block
Newborn Nursery (at Holy Cross Hospital): 1 block
Emergency Department: 0.5-1 block
Ambulatory Care: 1-2 blocks
Elective/Selective: 1.5 block
Vacation: 5 weeks (in 2-week segments)

Second Year Rotations

Inpatient Wards - Supervisory: 1-2 blocks (on Hospitalist service)
Inpatient Wards – 2^nd year resident team only: 2 blocks
- Inpatient Ward Blocks: 1 Cardiology & Renal block, 1 Hematology & Oncology block
Night team on Inpatient Wards – Supervisory: 1-1.5 blocks (in 2-week segments)
NICU (at CNH): 1 block
PICU (at CNH): 1 block
Emergency Department: 0.5-1 block
Ambulatory Adolescent: 1 block
Ambulatory Care: 1-5 blocks
Elective/Selective: 2 blocks
Vacation: 1 block (in 2-week segments)

Third Year Rotations

Inpatient Wards - Supervisory: 2 blocks (Hospitalist and/or Subspecialty service)
Night team on Inpatient Wards – Supervisory: 0.5-1 block (in 2-week segments)
NICU (at CNH): 1 block
PICU (at CNH): 1 block
Emergency Department: 0.5-1 block
Ambulatory Development: 1 block
Elective/Selective: 3-4 blocks
Vacation: 1 block (in 2-week segments)

Take a look at our Residency Curriculum Grid to get more details about our rotation schedule and compare the residency training track curricula.

General Rotation Information

Inpatient Wards: Each team consists of 1-2 interns with 1 senior resident (PL-3), 1 attending and 1-3 medical students. Some services also have a fellow. Interns are the primary caregivers for all patients. We have a day and night shift schedule (therefore avoiding the “q3-4 24-hr" schedule) during the week. Daytime hours are typically 6 a.m. – 5 p.m. with Night team hours 5 p.m. – 6 a.m. Interns work 24 hour shifts on weekends only during inpatient wards. During each month of inpatient wards, interns are scheduled for “float week”. This week consists of outpatient experiences related to the inpatient team you are in to help residents gain exposure to both inpatient and outpatient pediatric care. It also guarantees that every intern has one 3-day weekend during each inpatient ward block.
Night Team - Inpatient Wards: Each team consists of 1 intern and 1 senior resident (PL-2 or PL-3). Nights offer an excellent time for autonomy and teaching.
Emergency Department: Our Emergency Department is very busy with incredible opportunities for resident learning and procedures. It is a Level 1 Trauma Center with 3 code bays. Residents work 2-week blocks in the ER, completing 7-8 shifts per block. Shifts are 9 hours long. There are dedicated procedure shifts where residents are only suturing, removing foreign bodies, performing LP’s and helping to splint and cast. We also encourage resident involvement in codes and traumas with designated roles as you progress throughout residency.
Newborn Nursery at Holy Cross Hospital: Interns spend time examining healthy newborns and treating common problems in the neonate during this month. There is also a dedicated “delivery week” where residents exclusively attend deliveries – providing excellent neonatal resuscitation training.
NICU: Interns complete 1 block at George Washington University NICU which serves as an introduction to NICU and provides excellent delivery room and resuscitation experience. At GWU NICU, you work on a team with 2-3 interns, 1 NICU fellow and 1 NICU attending. You have 1-2 long calls and 1 week of nights.
- PL2’s and PL3’s complete NICU at Children’s National Hospital. Residents work on a team of 2-3 PL-2 and PL-3 residents with 1 NICU fellow and 1 NICU attending. The call schedule includes 1-2 long calls and 3-4 nights. Our NICU is a 70-bed unit and major referral center for the East Coast that has been ranked #2 by US News World and Report. The NICU is another place where residents gain a ton of procedural experience!
PICU: PL-2 and PL-3 residents complete PICU at Children’s National. You work on teams with 2-3 PL-2 and PL-3 residents, 1 PICU fellow and 1 attending. Our PICU is a very 46-bed unit with ECMO program. Some of our best learning and procedures occur during our PICU rotation. PICU call schedule includes 2-3 long calls and 4-5 night shifts.
Hematology and Oncology: This is a PL2-only rotation where residents spend time on both our inpatient Hematology and Oncology teams. We have a busy Hematology department with a large population of sickle cell disease patients in addition to a variety of other blood dyscrasia patients. Our Oncology team is another active service with excellent learning from incredible Oncology specialists. Children’s National is a CAR-T cell therapy center. We have a separate BMT team that residents can choose to spend elective time working with.
Cardiology and Nephrology: This is a PL2-only rotation where residents spend time on both our inpatient Cardiology and Nephrology teams. We have a wide variety of patients, including recent heart and kidney transplant patients that residents care for.
Ambulatory Rotations: All residents spend 1 block in our ambulatory Adolescent clinic and ambulatory Development clinic. Residents also spend outpatient time in their continuity clinics. These clinics include our in-hospital outpatient clinic, to community based-health centers, to suburban private practices. Residents have the opportunity to choose the continuity clinic site that best fits their individual interests.

Elective Opportunities

Elective time is incredibly flexible to allow residents to gain experience in their individual areas of interest. We offer over 50 subspecialty clinics and consult teams that residents can choose to spend time in. Some of the most popular elective experiences include spending time with our Dermatology, Orthopedics, Psychiatry and Infectious Disease teams.

In addition to the clinic and consult team experiences, we have many unique elective opportunities which include:

Cardiac Intensive Care Elective: Residents are given the opportunity to rotate through our cardiac intensive care unit where they serve as front line providers for patients as an essential part of the medical care team, paying particular attending to pathophysiology and details of cardiac anatomy.
Child and Adolescent Protection Center : Residents learn how to obtain data via an accurate history and a physical exam for a child with suspected abuse or neglect, as well as nuances of managing these complex situations.
Child Health Advocacy Institute : The CHAI elective provides an introduction to basic advocacy tools and allows residents to focus on an issue important to child health via research and advocacy.
Global Health Course Elective: This is a one-week course that exposes residents to global health issues including healthcare delivery, disease management and resource allocation incorporating leaders in the field.
Health Policy Fellowship: This three-week course is spent at George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services where residents gain a basic understanding of the healthcare system in the United States and how policy shapes and influences healthcare practices.
HSC Pediatric Center Elective: At HSC, residents are given a more in-depth understanding of the care of children with medical complexity and technology dependence. Residents work with interprofessional team members including physical therapy, occupational therapy, recreation therapy, speech and language therapy, nutrition services, social work and case management to optimize the care of children with special healthcare needs.
Medical Transport Elective: Residents spend time with our medical transportation team, learning how to manage triage in outside facilities and safely bring patients to Children’s National for further care via helicopter or ambulance.
Ultrasound Elective: Residents spend one to two weeks learning to use bedside ultrasound to gather and interpret their own imaging data to answer specific focused clinical questions.
AAP Federal Affairs Internship: Residents may apply for this month-long elective experience at the national AAP office right here in Washington, D.C.