Life as a Resident in Pensacola...
The Pediatric Residency Program, a university affiliated program, combines two entities that usually exist independently of one another. We have a program that is smaller in size, combined with the advantage of our own children's hospital. Our current "practice" has a patient population of over 30,000 and this number does not include the daily referrals to our clinic and inpatient service from surrounding communities and private physicians. This type of patient volume provides unique opportunities for our residents at each year of training.
As an intern, your yearly schedule provides a vast amount of clinical experience. Inpatient rotations include three ward rotations, one newborn nursery, one PICU, and one Intensive Care Nursery. Since fellowship training programs do not exist at Sacred Heart Children's Hospital, all of the teaching comes directly from attending physicians and senior residents. You will surely fill your first procedure book before the end of the year. Your proficiency in procedures such as a circumcision, lumbar puncture, or suture of a laceration increases significantly as the first year progresses.
The subspecialist physicians are always available to discuss patients and questions either in person or by phone. In our minds, this type of interaction is a distinct advantage. As residents, we have direct contact with the subspecialist who is never buffered by a fellow. This type of interaction with the specialty-trained physicians is an invaluable asset to our daily learning. In addition, they are an integral part of our lecture schedule, which encompasses all objectives outlined by the ABP.
Call nights include coverage on the Wards as well as PICU and any admissions from clinic, ER, or outlying hospitals. As an intern, your responsibilities on call will include handling all floor and PICU issues. You will also take calls from the ER. Call nights in the NICU vary slightly in that you are exclusively covering the NICU babies and new NICU admissions. When attending high-risk deliveries, the neonatologist always accompanies you. Another advantage of our NICU experience is that a neonatologist is always available in house while on call.
Second year residents are the "senior" residents, and serve as the supervisor of the Ward team. Your duties will include morning report discussion, accepting transfers from outside hospitals or physicians, and any trauma alerts during the day. You will oversee all other members of the team and more specifically will provide guidance and teaching to the interns during these months. As a supervisor, you are ultimately responsible for all patients admitted to the Ward service. Other noteworthy aspects of the second year include an Adolescent Medicine rotation and two elective rotations. As a second year resident, you are afforded the opportunity to moonlight in our Pediatric Emergency Department, which is staffed by an attending physician.
During the third year, residents are able to take an additional four months of elective rotations. It should be noted that almost every subspecialty rotation is offered at our hospital. As a third year resident, call is less frequent which allows the resident more time to pursue specific clinical or research interests. Each third year resident is required to identify a mentor and participate in a senior research project, ranging from clinically based prospective research to intriguing case presentations.
