Chad Brands, M.D., and Raquel Hernandez, M.D., the new director and associate director for medical education at All Children's Hospital, are designing a new residency program that will provide a new paradigm for training future pediatricians. After working with a consortium of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine faculty members to shape priorities for the new program, Dr. Brands and Dr. Hernandez are now working with physician leaders at ACH to prepare for a site visit by the ACGME.
The pediatric residency program will incorporate standard components of residency training such as progressive responsibility and exposure to multiple pediatric subspecialties. Innovative elements of the curriculum will include a PL-2 year focused on outpatient experiences, an ACGME competency-based curriculum, and novel opportunities for career development woven into the residency program.
In addition, residents will create individualized learning plans that will form the basis for their rotation schedules and promote each resident's distinct career goals. The program will emphasize career development through frequent faculty exposure and guidance. The program's goal is to recruit the highest caliber of students, who will be trained as excellent clinicians and as outstanding future innovators and leaders in the field of pediatrics. The first class of trainees is expected to enter the program in July 2014.
"We are excited about the multifaceted opportunities in medical education at All Children's and look forward to working collaboratively with interdisciplinary colleagues to develop programs in the pursuit of excellence across the entire spectrum of medical education-from the premedical years to the emeritus years," says Dr. Brands.
The Medical Education office also plans to offer one- to four-week leadership intersessions as early as summer 2012 that will give medical students a taste of the diverse academic and research opportunities available at ACH.