Residency Director's Message
James J. Nocton, M.D.
Director |
Rainer Gedeit, M.D.
Associate Director |
Residency training is the time when you will learn how to be a pediatrician. It is an opportunity to gain exposure to all that pediatrics has to offer, to see large numbers of children with a variety of illnesses and problems, to develop all of the skills necessary to become an effective pediatrician, and to decide on specific career and personal plans for the future. We have developed a Pediatric Residency Training Program at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and the Medical College of Wisconsin that provides broad, well-balanced, and supportive training in an academic environment for those interested in all types of careers in pediatric medicine.
Working in one of the busiest children's hospitals in the U.S., our residents are given the opportunity to care for children with a wide variety of acute and chronic illnesses. Children's Hospital of Wisconsin serves as a regional and national tertiary referral center, but also as the community hospital for most of the children of Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin. Our residents see large numbers of children with common pediatric illnesses seen in the community, similar numbers of children with specific illnesses such as cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, or diabetes managed primarily by subspecialists, as well as many children with rare or difficult-to-diagnose illnesses. They work closely with community pediatricians as well as academic hospital-based pediatricians while caring for their patients. They develop their skills and knowledge in all areas of pediatric medicine, gain exposure to all types of pediatric practice, and have the opportunity to explore their own interests in depth. We believe that this exposure allows our residents to make well-informed decisions regarding their own careers. Whether they eventually choose to become primary care pediatricians or academic subspecialists, they can make this decision based on sufficient experience and the opportunity to work with pediatricians in all types of practice.
The rotations in our residency program are designed to provide a balanced set of educational experiences. The general pediatric wards and emergency room are very active, and provide excellent opportunities for instruction in the care of hospitalized and acutely ill children. Specialized units such as the newborn nursery, neonatal intensive care unit care, pediatric intensive care unit and hematology/oncology/bone marrow transplant units serve the needs of children with specific and more serious illnesses. Outside of the hospital, weekly continuity clinic experiences are provided either in community pediatricians' offices, or at the Downtown Health Center, an inner-city clinic staffed by general academic pediatricians. Additional ambulatory rotations include adolescent medicine, community pediatrics, developmental pediatrics, and behavioral pediatrics. Elective rotations allow our residents to choose additional hospital or ambulatory rotations depending on their own interests. In addition, all of our residents participate in the Multidimensional Education Program, a program designed to improve residents knowledge about community-based health organizations, and how pediatricians can work within the community to be effective advocates for childhood health.
The above experiences would not be as rewarding to our residents were it not for our faculty. Our department is filled with enthusiastic teachers, from the Chairman to the residents themselves. This creates an environment where education is constant, both at the bedside as well as in the lecture hall and conference rooms. Teaching rounds occur four days each week on the general wards, there are daily noon conferences specifically for residents, and a monthly journal club for each year of training. Resident education is a priority, and our faculty enjoy teaching and enjoy working with residents and students. Our residents get to know the faculty very well, and therefore have no difficulty finding mentors to help with career guidance and other professional and personal issues.
We believe that the personal development of the resident is as important as the professional development. As directors of the training program, we believe in always being available to our residents. Our doors are always open and pagers always on. We encourage the residents to seek us out, whether it be for professional guidance or personal assistance. There are formal meetings with each resident twice each year in which performance is evaluated, career issues are discussed, and feedback regarding the program is solicited, but additional meetings are held whenever necessary to discuss other issues as they occur. For the residents as a group, the program sponsors organized retreats during each year of training, held at a local resort for several days, giving the residents and their families a chance to escape the hospital and clinics for a while and enjoy each others' company. Unsponsored gatherings are also frequent and encouraged. Residents are given ample time away from the hospital to explore all of the cultural and entertainment options Milwaukee has to offer. Milwaukee is an outstanding city with theatre, fine arts, professional sports, and a wide variety of options when it comes to outdoor activities. The cost of living in Milwaukee allows our residents to enjoy a lifestyle that is likely more comfortable than those training in other cities.
We hope that you will visit our program, meet the faculty and our residents, and learn more about the hospital, Milwaukee, and us. We would like to have the opportunity to show you all that our program has to offer and why we remain so enthusiastic about it.
James J. Nocton, M.D. Director, Pediatric Residency Training Program
Rainer Gedeit, M.D. Associate Director, Pediatric Residency Training Program