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Charleston, SC 29425
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August 2007
Feature Story
Fresh faces: new pediatric residents join MUSC
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George Johnson, MD
Pediatric Infectious Disease |
The pediatric department again welcomes 14 new professionals to help MUSC in providing the best care for children.
Twelve new pediatric and two combined medicine/pediatric residents joined the MUSC team in July.
"We interviewed more than 140 medical students for the peds program, and 35 for the combined med/ped program," says Dr. George Johnson, MD, pediatric residency program director.
"Looking at exam scores - which is just one measure - the applicant pool was a little better than last year," says Dr. Johnson.
The pediatric residency is a three-year program designed to train residents to become outstanding pediatricians. The combined medicine/pediatric program lasts four years and trains residents to become outstanding pediatricians as well as adult internists.
Both programs put responsibility on the trainees to effectively use all available resources to reach their educational goals. The programs also focus on developing the teaching skills of all teachers in the department.
Residents benefit from these improved teaching skills while also developing teaching skills of their own.
This strengthens the skills of not only the residents who are planning careers in academic medicine, but also those entering clinical practice, where they will be continually challenged to effectively teach patients, families and staff members, says Dr. Johnson.
"We're preparing each trainee for the educational challenges they'll face in their future medical careers," explains Dr. Johnson.
As part of the resident selection process, explains Colleen Thomas, coordinator of the residency program, "we look at the whole individual. We look for a team player and hard worker. We look at the overall character of each applicant to find a good fit for our family-friendly environment."
This year, there was an increased interest from candidates in international rotations.
"According to feedback from applicants, this was a big draw to our program here at MUSC. International rotations have been available for several years, but they've definitely become more sought after in the last two years," says Dr. Johnson, who believes this is part of a national trend.
Past residents have done studies in Tanzania, Honduras and Greece. "We have several others going to Tanzania, which is our most established site, again this year," says Dr. Johnson. "Dean Reeves is very supportive of the international rotation program."
Pediatric residency programs continue to attract a large number of excellent, competitive applicants. MUSC draws applicants from across the US, notes Dr. Johnson.
"We're a mid-sized program. However, the Children's Hospital is going to expand, so we will need to increase the number of pediatric residents in the near future, " he says.
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