UCLA and Cedars-Sinai Residency Training Programs merge to form the

UCLA Tri-Campus Pediatric Residency Training Program!

We are very pleased to announce the merger of two outstanding residency programs! In July 2004, the UCLA and Cedars-Sinai residency training programs joined together to form the UCLA Tri-Campus Pediatric Residency Training Program. This new combined program provides unprecedented educational opportunities for pediatric residents, who now rotate through three main hospital sites – Mattel Children’s Hospital, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center , and Olive View Medical Center. Given the long and outstanding educational histories at each center, the combined program is one of the nation’s premier residencies, providing unsurpassed diversity of economic, ethnic, cultural, and clinical experiences integrated under a single powerful educational philosophy of innovation, resident empowerment, and opportunity.

We’ve integrated the curricula from both programs, incorporating the strengths of each teaching site, into an incredibly diverse and well-rounded educational experience. Details of this experience are outlined in this online residency brochure; however, we thought it may be helpful to highlight some the frequently asked questions below:

How big is the combined training program? Will there be the same number of interns in the combined program as the sum of the interns that were previously in the programs at UCLA and Cedars-Sinai?

The number of interns in the UCLA Tri-Campus Pediatric Residency Training Program is essentially the same as the total number of interns in the two previously separate programs. This includes categorical Pediatrics residents, CHAT residents, Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residents, and Pediatrics-Genetics residents.

How will you be integrating the didactic teaching from both programs?

There is a very strong Acute Care (Emergency) Lecture Series through the summer months, that will run concurrently at both the Cedars-Sinai campus and at the UCLA campus. The same key lecture topics are presented at each campus during the same block rotation, to insure that interns at each site have the opportunity to hear each topic, and to minimize repetition of lecture topics when interns move to different sites on subsequent rotations. The goal of the Acute Care Lecture Series is to help raise your comfort level in key emergent situations, and will include such topics as Fluids and Electrolytes, an Approach to Dysrhythmias, the Management of Codes, Shock, DKA, Suturing Techniques, Ingestions, Status Asthmaticus, Status Epilepticus, etc.

After the summer months, we begin a comprehensive lecture series at each site, as part of the ongoing Noon Conference Lecture Series. We have integrated the existing didactic curricula of the two teaching programs, tapping into the strengths of each.

Can you clarify please the leadership of the new program?

Dr. Shahram Yazdani is the Program Director of the newly integrated UCLA Tri-Campus Pediatric Residency Training Program. Working closely with him, are three Associate Program Directors, including Dr. Paul Chung at the Westwood campus, Dr. Rona Molodow at the Olive View campus, and Dr. Abhay Dandekar at the Cedars-Sinai campus. In addition, Dr. Alice Kuo directs the Westwood based Med-Peds program and leads the Community Health and Advocacy Training (CHAT) track.

Very intimately involved with the direction and leadership of the training program, Dr. Lee Millerand Dr. Kate Perkins serve as the Vice-Chair for Education and the Associate Vice Chair for Education, respectively, for the Department of Pediatrics.

Where will my continuity clinics be held?

We have established several sites for continuity clinics to provide residents in the Tri-Campus Program with a diversity of patient care settings, providing a comprehensive outpatient experience. The existing options include the UCLA Pediatric Primary Care Clinic, the Burke Clinic (a satellite clinic of the Venice Family Clinic, which provides care to indigent and homeless children in the western portion of the city), and the Mid-Valley Clinic (an LA County clinic located in the San Fernando Valley). We continue to explore other potential venues for the continuity clinic experience, including the Cedars-Sinai Health Associates, which provides care to a large volume of diverse HMO patients.

What kind of input does the housestaff have about the newly integrated curriculum, and what are the mechanisms for providing feedback?

The Tri-Campus Pediatric Residency Training Program is tremendously sensitive and responsive to housestaff feedback. There is, of course, a formal written means of evaluating each teaching experience at the end of each block rotation. A Curriculum Committee comprised of faculty from all sites and resident representatives from all levels of training, as well as all Chief Residents, meet for regularly scheduled Curriculum Committee meetings. This forum provides a great platform to formally review feedback from every block experience at each teaching site, and to communicate this feedback with faculty representatives responsible for each rotation. Additionally, we continue to have monthly Housestaff Meetings, as well as Housestaff-Faculty Retreats, to provide additional forums for sharing and discussing feedback.

Can you explain the advising and mentorship system in the new program?

All residents are linked with a faculty advisor, with whom they meet on a regular basis, to not only touch base with one another, but to also to review feedback, to discuss concerns, to provide counseling and valuable support. We also have established a guild system to provide outstanding guidance for residents in the program. The guilds can perhaps best be thought of as intellectual homes for residents during their three years of training. We currently have five guilds: International Health, Research, Health Services, Medical Education, and Community Health. Each guild has faculty members recruited from all three sites who serve as mentors for residents in that particular guild. Quarterly evening seminars are held by each guild and other educational initiatives will also be developed. Guild faculty and residents serve as advocates for inclusion of content areas in conferences such as Grand Rounds and noon conferences. Resident projects (either individual or group) within the guilds are strongly encouraged.

We feel that one of the great strengths of our newly integrated program and the guild system is having even greater opportunities for residents to connect with our dedicated faculty members at multiple sites, who can act as mentors and advisors.

What elective time will we have in the new program?

We feel very strongly that our curriculum provides enough flexibility to enable you to tailor your educational experience toward your individual interests and goals. Whether you choose to pursue primary care for underserved populations, private practice, subspecialty pediatrics, health services research, or international public health, etc., having 9 to 10 blocks of elective time will enable you to explore many interests. You’ll be able to participate in subspecialty electives at either the UCLA or Cedars-Sinai campuses, and we anticipate that some of our subspecialists will ultimately be offering combined subspecialty experiences at both campuses.

How will the international pediatric electives be made available to the residents in the newly combined program?

There is an extensive variety of international pediatric experiences currently available through the Tri-Campus Program. Existing links include training sites in India, Nepal, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Australia, and Southeast Asia. We also have a well-established link with the Indian Health Service in Alaska, with an opportunity to participate in an exciting elective experience in Eskimo Pediatrics. Residents may also take advantage of opportunities to establish electives in other international venues, providing these venues offer a fine educational experience with appropriate support and supervision.

As the combined program size has increased above and beyond the size of the previous separate programs, how do you maintain the spirit and intimacy of the training experience?

We have nurtured even further the spirit of camaraderie and the strong support systems that previously existed within the programs at UCLA and Cedars-Sinai. The guild system has helped tremendously in developing strong ties among the housestaff as well as between housestaff and faculty. Regularly scheduled social events for the housestaff are also planned by the current chief residents, and there are frequent opportunities to connect and bond with your colleagues outside of the hospital.

We hope that the above information will be helpful to you, and that you won’t hesitate to contact any of us if you have any questions or if we can be of any help along the way. We feel very strongly that our newly combined program provides unprecedented educational opportunities for our new pediatric residents, and we very much welcome this opportunity to share with you our excitement!