Individualized Curriculum

Clinical Pathways

All residents in our department have chosen pediatrics as their “major”; our pathway options allow them to select a “minor” at the end of their first year of residency. Each pathway has a faculty lead who helps develop a suggested curriculum for the six pathway rotations, which can be individualized to meet each resident’s career goals. Two of these rotations occur in the second year of residency and four in the third year. In addition, our residents identify a career advisor who meets regularly with the resident for mentoring and career planning.

We offer the following pathways:

Procedural Skills

In addition to routine clinical care, residents have numerous opportunities to work on their procedural skills during their three years in the program. During each ED block, residents get a procedure-orientated didactic session in which they practice suturing, abscess drainage, lumbar punctures, and intraosseous line and gastrostomy tube placement. We offer a separate simulation session in which airway management (including bag valve mask ventilation and intubation skills) are taught.

A recent resident-led initiative was development of after-hours procedure workshops organized by career pathway, allowing residents extra practice with those skills most important to their future practice. We are also excited to announce that a brand new ultrasound curriculum is under development.

Global Health Opportunities

There are many opportunities for training in global health at the residency program, department, and institutional level. Within the program, residents have the option to choose pathway rotations within the Global Health pathway, which focus on providing medical care in under-resourced settings. Every resident has the option to do a domestic or international away rotation, whether or not they are on the Global Health pathway; recent destinations include Bolivia and Togo.

Residents can also take advantage of opportunities through the Wake Forest University School of Medicine Office of Global Health. The Office funds scholarships to help defray the costs of travel and maintains a list of affiliate sites, which have previously hosted Wake Forest faculty, residents, and/or medical students. Residents can apply to participate in the Global Health Certificate Program, a 20-month longitudinal program focused on biomedical, sociopolitical, economic and geographic factors impacting health both in low- and middle-income countries and in underserved populations within our own community. All certificate participants also complete a mentored capstone project, with a variety of faculty mentors available across the institution.