Curriculum

Pediatrics Residency
Pediatric residents at work in the pediatrics department at UF Health Jacksonville

Didactic Conferences

  • UF Health Jacksonville and Wolfson Children’s Hospital (WCH) are equipped with teleconferencing facilities that are offered on both campuses, providing residents with greater access to the educational conferences listed below. Lectures are recorded and also available to residents via live streaming at any time and on their personal surface pros provided by the children’s hospital at the start of residency. Since the pandemic we have been using zoom with greater frequency, therefore trainees have the option to utilize zoom or attend in-person (if they are on-site).
  • Noon lectures are offered daily and cover the American Board of Pediatrics content specifications in an 18-month cycle so that residents will cover the entire curriculum twice during their three years of residency. Daily free lunch is provided for these conferences at WCH. Noon lectures encompass both specialty as well as general and preventive pediatrics topics. The latter is based on Bright Futures guidelines. In addition, we have an advocacy session scheduled every other month. This is facilitated by our advocacy resident champions under the guidance of the community and societal pediatrics division.
  • Morning report happens twice-weekly (morning report discussion is resident-led and attended by faculty)
  • Grand rounds are offered weekly, all PGY 3 residents present grand rounds as a required component of their scholarly activity
  • Evidenced-based medicine (EBM) or journal club occurs monthly and is mentored by faculty with both interns and residents participating, thus ensuring longitudinal EBM exposure
  • Board review sessions happen biweekly after noon didactics and are led by a senior resident. In addition, we review Med Study questions after each noon conference.
  • Monthly morbidity and mortality conferences - presented by residents and led by pediatric critical care faculty
  • Combined pediatric critical care - emergency medicine conferences are also held periodically to discuss a case from initial presentation through management in the Intensive Care Unit
  • Other didactics include perinatology conferences for those working at UF Health Jacksonville. In addition, quarterly quality improvement (QI) meetings are held as part of the curriculum to provide didactics and review basic concepts related to QI methodology and scholarship, such as working through a PDSA cycle, navigating the IRB and reviewing and providing guidance for ongoing projects. These are taught by designated faculty members with expertise in these areas.
  • We also have a dedicated quarterly ethics noon conference lecture/discussion series taught by the children’s hospital bio-ethicist. The curriculum is based on the AAP Section/Committee on Bioethics guidelines.
  • Ongoing instruction on the business of medicine as well as in-patient and out-patient billing and coding. These were incorporated based on alumni feedback.
  • We also have a monthly wellness session at noon which can be either a didactic on a wellness topic or just some fun activity put together by our resident wellness team.

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a major change in the way we conducted our conferences routinely with everything resorting to zoom. Post pandemic, we have resumed all noon conferences and morning report which can be attended in-person or via zoom (for those off-site). Grand Rounds remain via zoom only for the foreseeable future.

Experiential Learning Opportunities

  • Mock code simulations supervised by critical care faculty
  • Monthly case based simulation supervised by pediatric hospitalists
  • Patient safety, delivering bad news, neonatal resuscitation and emergency department procedural simulation trainings both at UF Health Jacksonville and Wolfson Children’s Hospital
  • Point of care (POC) ultrasound training in the UF emergency department and dedicated radiology elective
  • During the 2023-2024 academic year, we had planned ongoing simulation sessions incorporating POC ultrasound training, and simulation for common pediatric procedures such as placement of gastrotomy tubes, tracheostomy management and care and splinting of simple fractures with management of uncomplicated musculoskeletal injuries. These will be ongoing.
  • Annual Nexplanon training
  • Annual opioid overdose and Narcan administration training through Drug Free Duval (a free Narcan kit is provided to each participant at the end of the training)

Leadership Development Program

We offer free leadership training opportunities to all UF residents and fellows. Residents have unlimited access to a catalog of e-learning courses through HealthStream. There are many courses relevant to leadership, personal and professional development. There are no limitations to the number of courses a resident can do throughout his/her training. Residents can complete courses at their own pace, whenever convenient for them, including on the admin rotation. Optional coaching is available if desired through the Office of Training and Development.

The Duval County Medical Society also offers a leadership development course through its leadership academy on an annual basis.

Scholarship Initiatives Available Through Community Advocacy or Clinical Outcomes-Based Quality Improvement Initiatives

All of our residents participate in either a community advocacy or a clinical outcomes-based quality improvement project. IRB approved scholarship projects are also possible. These consist mostly of case series, survey studies and retrospective chart reviews though some residents have participated in multicenter studies as well. Local, regional and national opportunities are available to residents through both the community advocacy initiative and the clinical outcomes experiences. The Office of Educational Affairs also provides opportunities for residents to participate in an advanced quality improvement and patient safety certificate program to further enhance their skills in these areas. Participation in the basic QI/PS program is now required for all trainees.

The program provides support in terms of conference leave and educational stipends for residents thus enabling them to present their scholarly projects at local, regional and national meetings. Over the past several years, our residents have presented at meetings such as:

  • AAP Celebration of Pediatric Pulmonology
  • AAP National Conference and Exhibition
  • Academic Pediatric Association (APA)
  • Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine
  • AMA Research Symposium
  • American Society for Sports Medicine
  • Association of Pediatric Program Directors
  • CDC National Immunization Conference
  • CHOP Annual Update on Pediatric and Congenital Cardiovascular Disease
  • Duval County Medical Society
  • Florida Chapter of the AAP
  • International Breastfeeding Conference
  • Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting
  • Pediatric Hospital Medicine Conference
  • Pediatric and Adult Interventional Cardiac Symposium
  • Southern Society for Pediatric Research (SSPR)
  • Vermont Oxford Network
  • Society for Critical Care Medicine annual conference

Center for Simulation Education and Safety Research (CSESaR)

Residents are exposed to common pediatric procedures through our state-of-the-art simulation lab. Residents perform procedures under the instruction and supervision of both pediatric and emergency medicine physicians and participate in simulated learning experiences.

Rotations

Rotations unique to our program include:

  • Care of the Medically Complex Child
    The Bower Lyman Center for Medically Complex Children provides primary care services to children with chronic or complex medical diagnoses involving multiple organ systems or who require life-sustaining technology. The resident will see children from infancy to young adulthood for both routine and sick visits, work with an interdisciplinary team of medical providers, nurse care coordinators, and social workers to provide comprehensive care to children and their families, and learn about the outpatient and community resources available to these families.
  • JaxHATS
    Residents will spend time with the Jacksonville Health and Transition Services (JaxHATS) Program to learn about the care of youth and young adults with special health care needs (YYASHCN), as they move from pediatric to adult based care. JaxHATS is a primary care medical home for youth ages 13 to 23 years of age, which focuses on both their medical and non-medical needs, including but not limited to social, personal, environmental, economic and educational needs. Residents will learn about innovative community collaborations and also spend time with the Program for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (PAIDD).

Learn more about our residency program’s clinical rotations for each year: