Conference Schedule
Departmental conferences, seminars, teaching rounds, and other structured educational experiences are conducted on a regular basis sufficiently to fulfill the educational goals set forth by the Residency Review Committee for Pediatrics. Attendance at conferences is mandatory. Listed below are the conferences and brief descriptions of each.
Grand Rounds: This is a weekly formal conference presented by nationally recognized physicians and deals with topics of current interest and leading edge topics in Pediatrics. Each session is scheduled by the Medical Education Committee at Children’s Hospital and Medical Center.
Resident Grand Rounds: 3rd year Pediatric Residents and 4th year Medicine-Pediatric residents are responsible for presenting this conference under the supervision of a faculty member of the resident’s choice. The presentation should be based on new literature or research, or should focus on the resident’s own research. The Chief Resident provides a schedule for the academic year in July, so there is ample time for preparation.
Morbidity & Mortality: The Morbidity and Mortality Conference is conducted on a quarterly basis in place of PMC and is organized by the chief resident. This conference focuses on recent issues that have lead to patient mortality or morbidity in an effort to improve patient care by the residents. Usually, several cases will be presented followed by a discussion on what could have been done differently to improve the patient outcome.
Patient Management Conference: Every Pediatric resident is required to present this conference once per year of residency. All Medicine-Pediatric residents are required to present this conference twice during their entire residency. The resident should provide a presentation and discussion under the supervision of a faculty mentor. The Chief Resident provides a schedule for the academic year in July, so there is ample time for preparation.
Journal Club: The ability to be able to understand the methodology and preparation of a scientific paper is important. This conference gives residents an opportunity to critically analyze published research and present the information each month. Residents will work with an assigned mentor to prepare the journal club presentation. The Chief Resident provides a schedule for the academic year in July, so there is ample time for preparation.
Noon Conference: This conference is organized and conducted by faculty and residents under the guidance of the associate program directors. These sessions involve both formal and didactic lectures and informal discussions by residents and invited staff. Topics covered include basic sciences and clinical sciences.
Breakfast with an Expert: The Breakfast with an Expert is conducted on a monthly basis and is organized by Dr. Cristina Fernandez. A local pediatric specialist speaks on topics pertinent to resident education. Breakfast is provided and this informal conference allows the residents to have an open forum for discussion.
Call Schedule
Interns: While on Children's Inpatient Wards and in the NICU, call is every 4 th night. Two months are spent on UNMC Inpatient Wards, one as a night float and one working only days. The other five months, interns cross-cover at Children’s or at UNMC, taking call an average of every 5-7 nights (3-5 calls per month). All call is in-house, and supervised by a senior resident.
Supervisors: All second and third year residents are put into the same call pool. While on wards at Children’s Hospital, in the PICU, or in the NICU, call is every 4 th night. A second and a third year resident share supervision of the wards at UNMC. The PL-2 works days and the PL-3 works nights. Residents on elective and clinic months cross-cover at Children’s, in the PICU, or at UNMC, usually taking 3-5 calls per month.
The senior residents also share back-up call, which requires being available to cover for another resident in the event of an illness or emergency.
Currently, there are five months with no call responsibilities. Two of these are during the Emergency Medicine rotation, in which the resident works eleven weekday shifts, 4 weekend shifts, and 5 urgent care shifts. The third month is the Community and Rural Health month completed during the PL-2 year. As part of that rotation, the resident spends a week working in a clinic in rural Nebraska. Housing is provided for the resident and his/her family. The UNMC day intern and day supervisor are also call free.