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The 2022 PL2 Retreat

Residency Overview

For more than eighty years, the Department of Pediatrics has maintained a residency training program in general pediatrics that provides residents with a strong foundation in primary care pediatrics, acute care medicine, and subspecialties.

Our collegial environment fosters a "hands on" approach with a high faculty to resident ratio. Owing to the large catchment area served by the Department, residents directly care for patients with a vast array of medical problems, from common primary care issues to the most unique subspecialty conditions. Residents are actively involved in varied learning experiences such as resident run journal clubs, research and pathophysiology conferences, case-based ambulatory care and subspecialty conferences, daily rounds with faculty, weekly grand rounds, and regular discourse with visiting professors.

Innovative Curriculum

Our curriculum prepares residents for careers in primary care and for fellowship training. We achieve this through direct patient care, interactive conferences, and resident presentations. Our residents have protected time every Thursday morning for conferences. In addition, residents rotating in the outpatient clinic, the adolescent clinic, and the newborn nursery have interactive sessions three times a week. Our residents are able to access a variety of virtual learning opportunities, including IHI Open School modules, APA Child Poverty modules, and Evaluating Child Sex Abuse curriculum developed here in our department.

Career-Focused Pathways

We have three distinct pathways intended to provide residents with the skills and knowledge they will use in their careers

  • Advocacy:  Residents can explore opportunities to engage in community pediatrics and participate in advocacy at local, regional, and national levels.
  • Global Health: Residents on this pathway have exposure to caring for global patients locally and abroad, and gain insight into the particular needs of this population.
  • Research: Residents seeking to develop skills in this area have access to a broad range of resources, and can pursue anything ranging from lab-based projects to clinical research and quality improvement.

The keystone of the career pathways is the Advocacy rotation.  It is a career pathway rotation all interns complete. It is designed for interns to gain new knowledge and skills in the areas of advocacy, global health, and research. It combines in-person and virtual learning experiences. Interns choose their desired pathway near the end of the academic year.

The Right Case Mix

Approximately one half of all hospital admissions represent common problems frequently encountered by primary care pediatricians. The remainder of admissions represent patients referred from a large geographic area with a range of therapeutic and diagnostic subspecialty challenges.

17 county catchment area

Opportunities for Research

For residents considering academic medicine, or who have a particular interest in a sub-specialty, the opportunity to do research during their residency can be attractive. The faculty in pediatrics is very supportive in helping residents with case reports, small clinical research studies, and even bench research. With the elective months, it is very feasible to structure time to do research in a specific area.

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Opportunities for International Health

Refugee and Immigrant Health: Central New York has a long history of being welcoming to refugees and immigrants and has settled more than 10,000 refugees to Syracuse in the past decade predominantly from Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe. At Upstate, we have the privilege of being able to provide culturally competent, trauma-informed, comprehensive primary care to refugee and immigrant families. Well developed support services including translation services, care management, social work, case management, and community engagement offers a comprehensive approach to care that allows us to promote health beyond an office visit. You will naturally be exposed to global health issues (tuberculosis, parasitic infections, hepatitis, malnutrition, PTSD), endemic health risks locally (lead exposure, obesity risk, chronic disease management), and the social complexities that new refugee families face as they assimilate.

Institute for Global Health and Translation Science (IGHATS): Upstate's IGHATS supports long term collaborations committed to research, service, and education in Ecuador, Thailand and Kenya. Pediatric residents have the opportunity to participate in a global health elective during a call-free month in their PGY3 year with further opportunities for elective engagement throughout your training depending on your interests.

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These opportunities will undoubtedly engage your learning, broaden your horizon, and enhance your training as future pediatricians!

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