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Program Curriculum
Our pediatric curriculum emphasizes the development of skills and competencies needed by all residents, wherever their career path leads them.
Schedules
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PGY 1 Schedule
- Pediatric Hospital Medicine: 3 months
- Neonatal Intensive Care: 1 month
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine: 1 month
- Ambulatory General Pediatrics: 2 months
- Newborn Nursery: 1 month
- Inpatient Acute Care (night float)/Newborn Nursery: 1 month (~2 weeks of each service)
- Individualized Curriculum (electives): 3 months
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PGY 2 Schedule
- Pediatric Hospital Medicine: 2 months
- Pediatric Intensive Care: 1 month
- Neonatal Intensive Care: 2 months
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine: 1 month
- Inpatient Acute Care (night float)/ Elective: 1 month ( ~2 weeks of each service)
- Ambulatory General Pediatrics: 1 month
- Special Care Nursery: 1 month
- Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics or Adolescent Medicine: 1 month
- Individualized Curriculum (electives): 2 months
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PGY 3 Schedule
- Pediatric Hospital Medicine: 1 month
- Pediatric Intensive Care: 1 month
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine or Acute Care Clinic: 1 month
- Inpatient Acute Care (night float)/ Elective: 2 months ( ~2 weeks of each service per month)
- Ambulatory General Pediatrics: 2 months
- Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics or Adolescent Medicine: 1 month
- Pediatric Mental Health: 1 month (effective 2027/2028)
- Individualized Curriculum (electives): 3 months
Subspecialty Electives Available On Campus:
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Pediatric Gastroenterology
- Pediatric Emergency Medicine
- Pediatric Infectious Diseases
- Pediatric Neurology
- Pediatric Palliative Care/Lactation
- Pediatric Orthopedics/Podiatry
- Infant Growth and Parental Guidance
- Neonatal Intensive Care Elective
- Research Elective
- Pediatric Ambulatory Subspecialty
- Pediatric Ambulatory Surgical Subspecialty
Additional Subspecialty Electives Offered Off Campus:
- Pediatric Allergy & Immunology
- Pediatric Dermatology
- Pediatric Nephrology
- Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
- Pediatric Rheumatology
- Pediatric ENT
*Individual curriculum allows residents to rotate through various subspecialties, including off-campus and out of state rotations in any subspecialty not offered by Henry Ford St. John Children's Hospital.
Rotation Descriptions
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Inpatient Pediatrics
Children with a wide variety of conditions are seen in our 26 private-bed inpatient unit at Henry Ford St. John Children's Hospital. As pediatric residents progress, they have increasing responsibility in the management of these children. The first –year resident has primary responsibility for initial assessment and daily care for the patient on the pediatric floor. This care is provided under the close supervision of the senior pediatric resident and full-time teaching staff. The second and third-year residents have greater responsibility for supervision of other residents and medical students, including facilitation of learning experiences for junior residents and medical students. Work and teaching rounds are conducted daily by members of the full-time teaching staff.
The diversified interests of the full-time staff enhance the resident’s learning experience. A wide variety of pediatric surgical problems are also seen. The pediatric resident assumes co-responsibility with the surgical resident for evaluation and follow-up of patients with surgical problems.
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Ambulatory Pediatrics
Considerable emphasis is placed on pediatric outpatient medicine. Over one-half of the resident’s experience is set in one of the ambulatory venues. Full-time pediatric generalists directly supervise the pediatric residents in the clinic. The hospital clinic includes continuity clinics, both well and sick general clinics, plus subspecialty clinics such as dermatology, allergy, cardiology, neurology, child development, endocrinology and gastroenterology. Each individual clinic is supervised by board certified staff in the specific subspecialty. One month in the third year is spent in ambulatory surgeries, ophthalmology, urology, nephrology and otolaryngology.
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Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Henry Ford St. John Hospital and Medical Center is a Level I Trauma center. Visits average approximately 95,000 per year, 22,000 of which are pediatric patients. The pediatric resident spends two month-long block rotations in the pediatric module of the ER. During the third-year block experience, they are the sole senior resident in the pediatric module during their assigned hours of coverage.
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Neonatal Intensive Care
Our newly renovated, 35 bed, Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Henry Ford St. John Children's Hospital is one of the busiest in the state and one of the major referral centers for critically ill newborns in southeast Michigan. A large portion of the approximately 3,400 deliveries per year at Henry Ford St. John Hospital are maternal transfers. This allows the pediatric resident to be involved with critically ill newborns from the moment of birth until discharge from the hospital. The NICU is staffed by eight board certified neonatologists as well as a team of experienced Neonatal Nurse Practitioners. Pediatric residents are given increasing autonomy in the handling of critically ill newborns as they progress through the program. Skills such as umbilical artery and vein catheterization, intubation and management of mechanical ventilation are just a few of the techniques learned during rotation through this unit.
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Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
Our newly renovated, 8 bed PICU is dedicated to the care of critically ill children of all ages. The unit is staffed by three, dually-board certified Pediatric Intensivists and offers residents the opportunity to gain competency in numerous procedural skills, including endotracheal intubations, lumbar punctures, and central line placement, as well as the experience of caring for complex medical issues with a multidisciplinary approach. Residents are responsible for managing surgical, trauma, and critically ill children in conjunction with the pediatric surgery team, trauma team, and other subspecialty groups under the supervision of the Pediatric Intensivists.
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Subspecialty and Elective Rotations
A wide variety of subspecialty electives are available to pediatric residents. Subspecialty choices are made by the resident to tailor the residency experience to meet his/her needs. All subspecialty rotations are supervised by board-certified subspecialists interested in teaching.
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SIM Lab
Our recently built high-tech simulation lab allows residents to participate in life-like scenarios to gain confidence and competence in both routine and potentially lifesaving procedures and practices. Supervised by Pediatric staff physicians and intensivists, a SIM lab curriculum is incorporated into NICU and PICU rotations.
Conferences
Education & Conferences
Education is at the heart of our pediatric residency program. We have intentionally designed our didactic experience to be high-yield, clinically relevant, interactive, and closely aligned with the knowledge and skills residents need to care for children today—and throughout their careers.
All scheduled didactics are considered protected educational time for residents and medical students, allowing learners to fully engage in teaching without competing clinical responsibilities. Our curriculum combines a structured systems-based foundation with case-based learning, evidence appraisal, multidisciplinary teaching, simulation, and opportunities for residents to teach and lead.
18-Month Systems-Based Didactic Curriculum
Our core didactic curriculum follows an 18-month rolling, systems-based curriculum designed around the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) content blueprint. The curriculum provides comprehensive coverage of core pediatric knowledge while allowing important topics to be revisited longitudinally and at increasing levels of complexity.
Rather than relying on isolated lectures, the curriculum integrates clinical reasoning, evidence-based medicine, diagnostic evaluation, management, and practical application across organ systems and pediatric subspecialties. This approach gives residents a consistent educational foundation regardless of where they are in their three years of training and supports progressive development toward independent practice and ABP board certification.
Core didactics are held Tuesday through Friday from 12:00–1:00 PM, with additional dedicated educational sessions from 1:00–2:00 PM on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) Report
PHM Report is a highly interactive, case-based conference led by our senior residents with participation from faculty, residents, and medical students. Cases are drawn primarily from recently admitted patients and interesting clinical encounters from our pediatric hospital medicine service.
Residents are challenged to develop and defend a differential diagnosis, interpret clinical findings, identify next steps in evaluation, and formulate management plans. The format emphasizes clinical reasoning and decision-making rather than simply arriving at a diagnosis, while giving senior residents meaningful opportunities to develop their teaching and presentation skills.
Pediatric Radiology Conference
Multidisciplinary pediatric radiology conferences are held monthly. This innovative educational session teaches our residents how to approach and interpret imaging studies while connecting radiographic findings with the clinical presentation and differential diagnosis.
Pediatric Grand Rounds
Pediatric Grand Rounds is held monthly and highlights a mix of foundational, challenging, or unusual pediatric cases and topics. These sessions expose residents to a broad range of clinical perspectives and contemporary pediatric practice.
Clinical-Pathology Conference (CPC)
CPC provides residents with an opportunity to work through a challenging clinical case from presentation through definitive diagnosis. Residents explore the differential diagnosis, diagnostic evaluation, clinical findings, pathology, and final diagnosis with faculty guidance. Each resident presents two CPCs during residency, with the complexity of the case increasing with the resident's level of training. CPC emphasizes diagnostic reasoning, synthesis of complex information, and clear clinical communication while encouraging residents to approach difficult cases with curiosity and intellectual rigor.
Pediatric & NICU Simulation
Simulation is an integral component of our educational program, with monthly pediatric and NICU simulation experiences designed to prepare residents for high-stakes clinical situations in a safe and supportive environment.
Residents participate in realistic, case-based scenarios involving pediatric emergencies, neonatal resuscitation, clinical deterioration, critical care, and other time-sensitive situations. Simulation allows residents to practice not only clinical management, but also communication, teamwork, leadership, prioritization, and crisis resource management.
Each session incorporates structured debriefing and reflection, allowing residents to identify strengths, examine clinical decision-making, and translate lessons learned into future patient care. The curriculum progresses with the resident's level of training, providing increasing opportunities to lead teams and manage complex scenarios. Our simulation curriculum helps residents build both competence and confidence when caring for critically ill children and newborns.
Additional Educational Opportunities
Education extends beyond our core didactic curriculum through opportunities that prepare residents to become thoughtful clinicians, investigators, and leaders in pediatric healthcare. Residents engage in patient safety and safety event analysis, learning to identify system-level contributors and develop strategies to improve care; participate in Critical Appraisal Journal Club, developing the skills to critically evaluate and apply medical literature; and receive education in research methodology, scholarly activity, and quality improvement, learning how to ask meaningful clinical questions, analyze data, evaluate outcomes, and translate findings into meaningful improvements in patient care. Together, these experiences foster a culture of inquiry, continuous improvement, and lifelong learning and equip residents with skills that extend well beyond residency.
A Culture of Teaching
Our pediatric residents learn from full-time faculty, subspecialists, community pediatricians, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, radiologists, and other members of the multidisciplinary team throughout their clinical experiences.
Residents are also active contributors to the educational environment, facilitating teaching of junior residents and medical students. Our goal is to create a resident-as-teacher culture that reinforces knowledge while developing communication, leadership, and mentorship skills.