Pediatric Rotation Units
Inpatient Wards
The University of Virginia Children’s Hospital has three pediatric wards with a combined capacity of 43, and approximately 2,700 annual admissions.
The wards are served by a team comprised of two upper-level residents and four first-year residents.
Subspecialists contribute to patient care as consultants and as the primary team, while specialists from other departments collaborate with the pediatric staff, for example, as in the case of an infant with surgical problems. As a resident, you will work with a variety of pediatricians and pediatric subspecialists from other departments to best fulfill the unique medical needs of children. In addition, you will be able to follow the progress of patients after hospital discharge, enabling you to learn about the essential continuity of health care.
Length of rotation and call schedule for the Wards rotation vary:
- PL-1: 3-4 one-month rotations. During the month you will be on day call until 7 p.m. every fourth day, with 1 week per month of night float.
- PL-2: 1 month rotation. During the month you will be on call until 7 p.m. every third day and alternate 24-hour call shifts on weekends.
- PL-3: 2-3 months rotation. During the month, you will be on call until 7 p.m. every third day and alternate 24-hour call shifts on weekends.
Your average patient load in the Wards will be from 6 to 8. The typical number of admissions for evening on-call duty is 6-10.
Hematology/oncology is a regular one-month rotation during your first and second years of residency.
During this rotation you will have the opportunity to:
- Evaluate and manage patients with malignancy, sickle cell disease, bleeding disorders, ITP, and patients with fever and neutropenia
- Evaluate hematology/oncology patients in the outpatient setting
- Follow patients into the inpatient setting if they are admitted for acute or scheduled hospitalizations
Each year you will spend at least one month as part of the team serving in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit or the Intermediate Care Nursery.
As the primary physician, you will gain significant experience in the management of complex newborn problems in the NICU, which features:
- U.S. News & World Report nationally ranked 51-bed NIU
- A hospital-based, neonatal ground/air transport system supporting over thirty community hospitals
- State-of-the-art neonatology, including ECMO and high frequency oscillation ventilation
- A full spectrum of cardiac surgery, including heart transplant
Interns will complete 2 months in the NICU during their first year, while PL-2s and PL-3s will complete 1 month. Residents will complete one week of night float in NICU, and PL-3s will function in a supervisory role with a focus on improving procedural skills and attending deliveries.
As a first-year resident, your experience in the Newborn Nursery will emphasize the management of normal infants there as well as in the Delivery Room. Interns will complete 1 month in the NBN with overnight deliveries covered by the NICU resident who is in-house. UVA is designated as a baby-friendly hospital with couplet care as newborns stay in the rooms with their mothers.
As a pediatric resident, you will join emergency medicine residents in caring for patients in the Pediatric Emergency Service.
Pediatric and emergency medicine faculty members provide supervision and emergency medical and surgical care for children and adolescents on a 24-hour basis. You will gain experience rotating in the Emergency Department each year of your residency training and will have an extended experience (1 month rotation) as a PL-2.
This rotation provides hands-on experience with general and subspecialty pediatric patients in the Birdsong Clinic in the Battle Building. In the Birdsong Clinic, you will see children for well-child visits and for a variety of general medical problems. Both you and the medical students who assist you will be precepted by general pediatric faculty members. This clinic operates in the Battle Building on weekdays from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
The half-day, weekly Continuity Clinic gives you the opportunity to follow a group of patients over an extended period of time, much as you will be doing in a regular practice. The Continuity Clinic is held at one of three locations: the Birdsong Clinic in the Battle Building, the Northridge Pediatric Clinic, or a private-practice community office
As a first-year resident, during your one-month experience in pediatric surgery, you will:
- Gain an understanding of basic embryology, normal development, and common congenital anomalies
- Understand the normal physiology of children of different ages
- Evaluate patients and formulate treatment plans for pediatric surgical conditions, trauma victims and critically ill patients
- Participate in daily ward rounds, evaluate admitted patients and consults
- Participate in operative cases as an assistant or observer
- Attend pediatric surgery outpatient clinics
This one-month rotation during your second and third years will give you in-depth exposure to the care of critically ill children. The PICU is a high acuity, mixed medical and surgical intensive care unit for children. Of the children admitted each year, about three out of five have primarily medical problems, and about two out of five have primarily surgical problems.
You will see a very broad range of pediatric critical illness, from airway problems to organ transplantation. As a resident, you will have primary responsibility for all pediatric admissions to the unit and will be the principal consultant for patients on surgical services. In addition to daily rounds and a “core curriculum” lecture series, you will benefit from frequent bedside teaching by faculty in the Critical Care Division, including instruction in the various techniques and procedures required for the support of critically ill children.
During this rotation you will be on call every fourth night.