Year-by-Year Preview
First year (PGY-1)
The first year of residency or “intern year” consists of establishing an understanding of both normal and pathologic pediatric physiology. This year will include rotations on the general inpatient pediatric floor and intermediate medical unit (IMU) at Children’s Memorial Hermann; well-baby nursery and Level III NICU at LBJ Hospital. During the general inpatient months, interns will always have an upper-level resident who will help provide supervision as interns learn how to clinically manage a variety of patient ages and conditions.
During intern year, residents also rotate on subspecialties such as nephrology, infectious diseases, adolescent medicine, pulmonology, and genetics, where residents work on a team with other residents and learn from the subspecialty faculty and fellows. During these subspecialty rotations, residents will see inpatient consults and have the opportunity to attend subspecialty clinics.
Typical Pediatric Resident Schedule for PGY-1
Second year (PGY-2)
The second year of residency consists of reinforcing the objectives of the first year while simultaneously introducing higher complexity patient care as well as the supervisory role of a resident-teacher.
On the pediatric Floor, the upper-level resident is responsible for leading the team of residents and students and managing the care for their patients. A typical schedule includes day shifts and night shifts where residents oversee the management of their pediatric patients from admission to discharge while ensuring interns also receive appropriate supervision.
Upper-level residents will also work in the NICU and PICU, where they manage higher acuity patients as part of a team with other senior residents, fellows, and faculty. PGY-2 residents also rotate in the Emergency Department (ED), where they master triaging and managing patients in the Children’s Memorial Hermann ED that also works with the Level I Trauma Center of Memorial Hermann.
During the PGY-2 year, residents have the option of taking a subspecialty elective of their choice.
Typical Pediatric Resident Schedule for PGY-2
Third year (PGY-3)
The third (and final!) year of residency is designed to ensure residents are comfortable and confident in their chosen career paths after residency, whether it be general pediatrics or a subspecialty fellowship.
On the pediatric floor, the resident will continue to lead a team of residents and students as they are given more independence by their supervising faculty. Third-year residents will also be scheduled to work “float weeks” in Children’s Memorial Hermann where they will have more supervisory experiences while in the hospital overnight.
During this year, residents have multiple elective months that are unique to each resident. Available electives range from advocacy, global health, medical education and every possible pediatric subspecialty to help prepare all residents for the next stage of their career.
Typical Pediatric Resident Schedule for PGY-3
Vacation
Our categorical pediatrics residents are given four weeks of total vacation throughout each academic year. Each vacation must be taken as an entire week off. Residents are free to schedule three of their weeks whenever they wish. The fourth week is generally reserved around the December holiday season when staffing is reduced.